Draymond Green did his best to ruffle the Boston Celtics’ feathers Sunday night in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Chase Center.
On Wednesday, with the series shifting to TD Garden for Game 3, Celtics fans took it upon themselves to respond, in the process flipping the script on the Golden State Warriors as Boston seized a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.
Look, we can sit here and debate whether the Boston crowd went a bit overboard with its heckling, most notably throwing a few NSFW chants in Green’s direction. But let’s leave that to the morality police and instead focus on the facts: Celtics fans were in the Warriors’ heads, a development that bodes well for Boston ahead of Game 4 at TD Garden on Friday night.
“It was not a factor,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said after the game, attempting to downplay the crowd’s impact before indirectly revealing it really was a factor. “We’ve played in front of rude people before. Dropping F-bombs with children in the crowd. Real classy. Good job, Boston.”
And what say you, Steve Kerr?
“On the crowd’s response to Draymond? Classy. Very classy,” the Warriors coach sassily responded.
Even Green’s wife took aim at C’s fans on social media in wake of Game 3.
Now, is the raucous crowd the reason the Celtics beat the Warriors 116-100 in Game 3? Probably not. Green, the Warriors’ longtime agitator, brushed off the chorus of boos and expletive-laden messages he received from Celtics fans while also insisting he usually enjoys the villain role.
“No, they’re just talking,” Green said. “Not really my job to react to them. They did what I expected.”
But Green was a total non-factor in Game 3, totaling two points, four rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes before fouling out in the fourth quarter. And the Celtics appeared to feed off the home cooking, namely in the second half while staving off another third-quarter surge from the Warriors.
“I felt like our team really stayed poised in those moments. As you know, earlier in the year, that could have gone south quickly,” Celtics big man Al Horford said. “The other thing was the energy from our fans was just contagious. I felt it going into (the game) — when I did my shooting slot an hour and a half before the game, and as soon as I saw that, I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be different tonight.’
“They stayed with us even through that, because sometimes things can get shaky. But we stayed right with it and just locked in and didn’t panic and just continued to play.”
Sometimes, the extra adrenaline can work against the home team, perhaps explaining why Boston entered Wednesday with a 5-4 record at TD Garden this postseason. Other times, it can provide a boost when momentum starts to shift in the other direction, either by increasing a team’s energy level and, in turn, its attention to detail or by wearing down the opponent.
The buzz in the building Wednesday night seemingly checked both boxes: The Celtics remained fully engaged, even as the game started to slip away in the third quarter, and the Warriors ultimately appeared rattled, a reality that manifested itself in Golden State’s postgame press conferences.
“Throughout this entire playoffs, we haven’t been as good at home. We definitely feel bad about that, to our fans, because they give us so much energy and so much juice,” Jayson Tatum told reporters. “Like you said, before the game even started, you could feel the energy throughout the building. First Finals game since (2010). They were excited.
“It just felt great. Felt like it’s been a while since we’ve played in this building. So, happy to get a win in front of the crowd. They’ve been so great for us throughout the playoffs and all season and throughout my career. It was great to get a win for them. We’re going to need them on Friday, as well.”
There was a lot of talk between Games 2 and 3 about how the Celtics would react to Green continually trying to get under their skin. Boston head coach Ime Udoka implored his players to be themselves — whether that means engaging in trash talk or staying quiet — and the message evidently was well received.
Not just by the Celtics, but by their fans — who definitely were themselves in Game 3, much to the Warriors’ detriment.
