NEW YORK — If nothing else, the Boston Celtics’ 2025 playoff run got an appropriate slogan Saturday: “dark, but in a good way.”

That’s how Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics’ philosopher-coach, described the experience this week of inexplicably falling behind 2-0 to the New York Knicks after brutal home losses but then springing back to a dominant 115-93 Game 3 victory at Madison Square Garden.

“This is the fun part, you don’t get into the journey for it to be easy,” Mazzulla said. “You’ve got to tap into your darkness, that’s it.”

However one puts it, the Celtics were facing catastrophe had they dropped another one. But listening to Mazzulla and the voices in the locker room after the win, it was clear that the Celtics’ focus wasn’t on the Knicks as much as addressing their own recent shortcomings.

It led to a checklist more than a game plan.

• Eliminate live-ball turnovers. This seemed to be Mazzulla’s biggest focus; he and the players kept referring to it after the game. The Knicks’ 20-point comeback wins in Games 1 and 2 were aided somewhat by turnovers that led to easy New York baskets. But overall, the Knicks had allowed nine more points off turnovers than the Celtics in the series. In Game 3, both teams scored 14 points off turnovers, but everyone wearing green seemed to think it was mission accomplished.

• Finish quarters strong. This is an old adage, but it was a key for the Knicks in their comebacks as they chopped down third-quarter leads to give themselves a chance at getting Games 1 and 2 to clutch time. The Celtics won the third quarter Saturday and pushed their lead to as many as 31 points.

• Don’t lose confidence on shooting 3-pointers. This was probably the biggest one. Boston took 40 3s, the same amount they did in Game 2, but this time they made 50% of them after making just 25% over the first two games. Perhaps most important, they made 6-of-7 out of the gate in the first quarter, shaking off the slump. As is their trademark of a good game, the Celtics had six different players make multiple 3s.

“Who cares what the outside world is saying,” said Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, who renewed his Sixth Man of the Year status with five 3-pointers and 23 points off the bench. “‘We shoot too many 3s.’ Everybody’s all saying that, but if you believe in your shot and you’re able to hit it, then take it confidently.”

Jayson Tatum, who came into the game shooting 29% in the series and promising to have a better performance, did so, though it wasn’t extraordinary. He made his first two 3-pointers and it seemed to relieve some pressure and helped the Celtics look much more at ease running through their offense. He finished with 22 points but shot just 8-of-20 with 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

“I wasn’t trying to prove anything today to anybody,” Tatum said. “It was an important game. It was important for us to respond as a team and just wanted to come out here and win. And that’s all that was really on my mind.”

Jaylen Brown was facing a little less scrutiny but, with the season perhaps on the line, he set an aggressive tone by looking for post-ups and power moves. He ended up with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists but he shot just 7-of-19. His attitude, though, definitely mirrored that of his team, which was calm and determined. The Celtics never looked stressed despite a raucous environment. That wasn’t a stunner, as Boston has now won a road playoff game in 12 straight series and is 23-9 on the road over the past four postseasons.

“You got to beat us four times, that’s what it comes down to,” Brown said. “Not twice, not once, not three. So it’s a lot of basketball to be played.”

The Knicks will try for win No. 3 on Monday at home in what sets up to be a pivotal moment. Star Jalen Brunson had 27 points but shot just 9-of-21 and wasn’t able to have his typical late-game impact in the lopsided game. Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds but shot just 5-of-18 after appearing to injure his left hand in the first half. He got it stuck in Celtics center Luke Kornet’s jersey and could be seen saying “I broke it” as he was running up the court.

Towns declined to say whether he got an X-ray after the game. He has been battling a right thumb injury during the season.

“It is what it is,” Towns said. “I’m gonna keep finding ways to play, so I ain’t tripping.”

ESPN’s Chris Herring contributed to this report.