Celtics guard Jrue Holiday took over the third quarter and helped Boston pull away. His defense led to offense.

We wanted to show that we can withstand whatever punch that they have so, we just turned up the defense,' said Holiday.

As the Celtics walked toward their tunnel at halftime Sunday afternoon, the crowd didn’t seem to know how to react. A few fans clapped. Most others stayed silent. Across the arena, nerves hid the postseason excitement that was so present earlier in the game.