Jayson Tatum went down with a potentially severe right leg injury, as the Knicks secured a victory over the Celtics on Monday.

Jayson Tatum and the defending champion Boston Celtics got back on track Saturday with a comfortable 115-93 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their second-round series. After blowing 20-point leads in Games 1 and 2, the Celtics took care of business to make the series 2-1 in favor of the Knicks.

The NBA's conference semifinals represent an escalation in both stakes and quality of competition. Nobody expected the play-in teams -- outside of the Golden State Warriors -- to compete for the 2025 title. But once the playoff field is whittled to eight remaining contenders, they all have a legitimate chance.

Two days after blowing a 20-point lead in a humiliating loss to the third-seeded New York Knicks, the Celtics, well, they blew a 20-point lead Wednesday in a humiliating loss to the New York Knicks. It was an echo that defied belief, right up until Jayson Tatum's last-gasp drive culminated in a Mikal Bridges steal, the same way Game 1 ended.

The 2025 NBA Finals will not be Celtics vs. Lakers ... beat L.A. Boston obviously has two tough hurdles to clear to even reach the finals, but the Lakers definitely won’t be there now.

There's no precedent in league history for what we saw in the opening days of the NBA's conference semifinals ... and Cleveland coming back to reach an East finals matchup that seemed inevitable ...