NBA Hall of Famers say Celtics-Knicks Game 3 is a must-win game for surprising team

The Knicks have made Celtics fans miserable this week, stealing wins in consecutive away games to start the series.

The Celtics now face a difficult 2-0 deficit and are going to have to win at least one game at Madison Square Garden to return to TD Garden for Game 5.

With the pressure seemingly all on Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics, two NBA Hall of Famers suggested that the pressure is actually on the Knicks in Game 3, which is a "must-win" for New York.

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Why Game 3 is a must-win for the Knicks

NBA Hall of Famers and Inside the NBA on TNT analysts Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal and Charles "Chuck" Barkley went on to say after Game 2 that Game 3 is a "must-win" for the Knicks.

This stirred some chatter on social media, as the Knicks are the ones who appear to have the advantage of being up 2-0 while playing at home at MSG for the next two games.

Shaq and Chuck might have a point, though, as the Celtics had the second-most road wins in a single regular season all-time, including two statement wins at MSG this year. 

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In two games at MSG this regular season, Tatum averaged 36.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, including a 40-point game with seven 3s and a game-tying 3 at the end of regulation in the other game to send the game to overtime.

Now that we know Tatum can shine on the big stage at MSG, maybe we will finally see him break out of this two-game slump and find his rhythm in a game where his teammates desperately need to show up.

Despite how poorly the Celtics played at times in the series so far, both games were one-possession losses that the Celtics could have won without second-half meltdowns.

The Celtics know they have to bring their A-game Saturday afternoon and will look to capitalize anytime the Knicks take their foot off the gas.

A win to make the series 2-1 can go a long way, and just like that, we might be having different conversations about this series going into Game 4.

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