So... Sunday night at a full-capacity TD Garden should be fun.
Suddenly, the Boston Celtics have made their first-round series vs. the Brooklyn Nets interesting with a 125-119 victory in Game 3. They'll have a chance to tie the series up in Game 4.
Highlights: Tatum drops 50 as C's take Game 3 vs. Nets
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Here are a few quick takeaways from the thrilling C's win:
Tristan Thompson backs up his talk
"We don't give a s--- about that. At the end of the day, they put their socks on and their shoes on just like us. So, we're not intimidated or anything like that."
Those are the words of Celtics big man Tristan Thompson following Boston's Game 1 loss to Brooklyn. He showed Friday night he wasn't kidding.
Thompson had what undoubtedly was his best game as a Celtic in Game 3. The veteran was leaned on even more with Robert Williams exiting due to injury, and boy did he deliver. Thompson finished with 19 points to go with 13 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive glass.
The Nets had no answer for Thompson on either side of the court. The 2016 NBA champion played with an intensity Brooklyn couldn't match, and that was key in Boston's victory.
If Thompson can duplicate his performance on Sunday, we could be looking at an even series.
Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum snaps his slump
We asked the real Jayson Tatum to please stand up after Game 2, and he did exactly that with a signature performance in Game 3. The 23-year-old Celtics star took over and dropped 50 points.
Including the regular season, it's Tatum's third 50-plus point performance of the campaign. It's safe to say the playoff slump is over.
The Celtics will need superstar Tatum to give an encore Sunday night, and for the remainder of this tough series. That's what it's going to take to pull off a stunning upset over Brooklyn.
Marcus Smart steps up for Kemba Walker
With Kemba Walker scuffling again (3-14 FG, 6 points, 5 TO), the Celtics needed someone else to step up and score alongside Jayson Tatum.
Enter Marcus Smart.
The Celtics' spark plug finished with 23 points while shooting 8-for-11 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3.
Like Thompson, Smart impacted the game in ways that don't show in the box score. He brought much-needed energy and toughness to a C's team that almost looked ready to call it quits after falling behind 19-4 early. It was a vintage performance from Boston's longest-tenured player.
Kyrie Irving struggles in front of TD Garden crowd
Kyrie Irving made his long-awaited return with fans in attendance at TD Garden and was greeted with plenty of boos before the game and during. The rambunctious Boston crowd -- albeit only at 25 percent capacity Friday night -- appeared to get to him.
Irving couldn't find a rhythm in this one until it was too late. He ended up with 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting in 41 minutes.
"It's basketball. I've been in a few environments in my life," Irving said after the game about his return. "If it's nothing extra, I'm cool with it."
He'll be faced with a much louder TD Garden crowd when the venue returns to full capacity for Sunday night's Game 4. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.