After two tight wins, New York looked poised to finally outmuscle Boston. Thibodeau’s scheme had Boston scrambling. But then came Game 3—and just like that, the Garden went quiet. Boston didn’t just win, they delivered a 22-point rout (115–93). They hit 20 threes out of 40, silencing any hype around the Knicks’ defense. So now the question is: can they keep this energy alive? According to Dwyane Wade, they absolutely can—because he believes toughness wins series.

Here’s how Boston flipped the script in Game 3. The hero of the night? Payton Pritchard. He dropped a playoff career-high 23 points and sparked the Celtics early. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown shook off the rust and lit it up for a combined 41. On the defensive end, Boston looked locked in—they suffocated New York, holding them to just 5-of-25 from downtown. Sure, Jalen Brunson poured in 27, but most of those came when the game was already slipping. Boston set the tone early and never looked back.

Wade argues Boston’s edge will be mental toughness, not shooting hot streaks. On The Timeout podcast, he said, “If I’m Pat Riley’s school, I’m coming in and I’m walking in with boxing gloves on. Yeah, I’m walking in. Listen, we’re going to go through our plan. We’re going to do our walkthrough, …we know what to do offensively, defensively. We are the defending champs we’ve been here. This ain’t got nothing to do with that.”

Clearly, Wade’s not talking Xs and Os here. He’s talking fight. “This is about who’s going to fight and who’s going to run away from the fight. That’s my talk.” For Wade, the Celtics already have what it takes. They’ve proven they can win it all—now it’s about the mentality. “I get out there and let me see what y’all made of,” he added.

“Are y’all full from that championship last year? Or is y’all still hungry? Because this could be a part of our story that we went down too low. But we also came back and won this series because we got to go through some adversity to get to what we’re trying to get to. But we got to get in that f—-ng fight,” said D-Wade.

Dwyane Wade praises Tom Thibodeau for Knicks’ defence

The Tom Thibodeau effect in New York isn’t just real—it’s electric. Under Thibodeau, the Knicks have transformed into one of the NBA’s stingiest units, ranking in the top 11 in defensive efficiency in three of the past four seasons. Under his watch, Jalen Brunson has become a star, OG Anunoby’s playing with swagger, and playoff basketball now feels like it belongs to the city again. And now that the Knicks have locked him in through 2028, the front office sees Thibs not just as a coach, but the future blueprint.

Meanwhile, over on The Timeout podcast, the conversation turned toward the Celtics’ Game 1 loss—but not in the way you’d expect. Rather than a critique, Dwyane Wade praised Thibodeau’s chess match. “What Boston need to do? They need to do a little bit. Come on over here?” Wade joked, pointing to how stagnant the Celtics looked near the paint. Dorell Wright didn’t miss a beat: “They need to go to the damn basket and drive the paint.”

Still, D-Wade wasn’t completely dismissive of Boston’s usual style. “That’s okay, but they do what they do, too. Now, they shoot that,” he said, acknowledging the Celtics’ love for the deep ball. But even Chris Johnson chimed in with a reality check: “But you know what they, they, they do attack the basket.”

His highest praise came next. Wade gave full credit where it was due, explaining, “That’s why the credit goes to the Knicks. If you know Thibs and you know how he builds a stick high hand shell package. It’s all built on heavy gap protection. And through heavy gap protection, it eliminates driving lanes.”

In short, Thibs built a solid wall. But Game 3 suggests the Celtics can breach that. SO now all eyes on Game 4. Can Celtics win back-to-back, or will they fail at Knicks’ defence-only time will tell.