Payton Pritchard came up big for the Celtics in their game 3 victory. The reigning 6th man of the year award winner chipped in five three pointers on his way to scoring 23 points while logging a playoff high 35 minutes. Kristaps Porzingis is clearly operating at less than 100% and the Celtics have adjusted by playing Pritchard extra minutes which I suspect will be the case tonight as well.

With the Celtics winning Game 3 in convincing fashion, Jrue Holiday only played 25 minutes. Still, he scored eight points. In Game 1, he scored 16 points over 39 minutes. In Game 2, he scored 10 points across 34 minutes. Holiday also scored at least 10 points in all three games that he faced the Knicks during the regular season. It might help his case that this game will be played in New York. He averaged 10.6 points and shot 42.2% from the field at home this season, compared to 11.5 points and 46.0% shooting from the field on the road. I like Holiday’s chances to reach double-digit points in this crucial Game 4 for the Celtics.

Karl-Anthony Towns had a difficult matchup in the first round against a very good rebounder in Jalen Duren. The Celtics don’t have a big man who can dominate the boards like that, especially with Kristaps Porzingis playing limited minutes. The result has been Towns grabbing at least 13 rebounds in all three games of this series. In two of the games, he recorded at least 15 rebounds. As the Knicks try to grab a 3-1 series lead, look for Towns to be busy on the glass again.

Instead of all the guff the Celtics have endured in this series, maybe it's the Knicks who should be put under the microscope. Not just because the Celtics righted themselves with a thumping road win at MSG in Game 3; the Knicks have been behind by at least 20 in every game (and 30+ in Game 3), the offense firing fired on all cylinders only in brief spurts. FG percentage is down, barely 40% the past two games, in which three-point shooting has been especially wretched (just 14 for 56; 25%). Meanwhile, Boston suffered no collapse in Game 3 as it hit 50% from beyond the arc (20 of 40) after struggling at 25% from deep the first two games. Play Celtics.

Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 15 rebounds in this series. He has cleared this prop total in his last five matchups against Boston. Two factors are helping his cause when it comes to rebounds: Kristaps Porzingis continues to deal with a viral illness, forcing the Celtics to start 38-year-old Al Horford and play him more minutes than they'd like. And Boston's hack-a-Shaq strategy against Mitchell Robinson has forced the Knicks to play the effective backup center fewer minutes than they'd like. KAT got into foul trouble in Game 1 and still finished with 13 boards. He pulled down 15 boards in Game 3 despite Boston shooting 48.2 percent. Look for KAT to notch at least 12 rebounds in what should be a competitive Game 4.

We're still waiting for this series to explode, but in the meantime overs have nonetheless cashed in 2 of the 3 games (we suspect very few lost with the over in game 3). This series has yet to be as high-scoring as the regular-season meetings but Boston at least looked like it was getting back to normal in Saturday's 115-93 romp, hitting 50% from deep after laboring at 25% across the first two games at MSG, even as Jayson Tatum still mostly misfiring. Meanwhile the Knicks should have an extra gear or two from what we've seen the past two games, scoring just 93 ppg. Note playoff overs are on a 22-10 run after Sunday's action. Play Celtics-Knicks Over

Boston is better overall and, like everyone else in playoffs, they seem more at ease shooting the ball on the road. Oh, and Tatum is back. We continue to ride this - Boston has led by 9 or more at the half in 6 of their 7 meetings this season and continue to build big leads. Knicks are not nearly such fast starters and Knicks struggled with elite teams all season, failing to keep games close long enough to clutch time. Celtics were +5.5 in 1st half on road, 2nd in NBA and fourth in first-half road scoring. They have scored 61 or more on Knicks in first half in 5 of 7 games. Celtics are too balanced and collapse in 4th quarter here.