We’ve seen this movie before. The Warriors would dig themselves into a hole and for whatever reason — they would come out of the tunnels after half time looking like a completely different team.

Although Warriors superstar Stephen Curry got called for his fourth personal foul at the 9:11 mark of the third quarter — Head Coach Steve Kerr would leave him in the game.

With Celtics center Al Horford not venturing above the 3-point line, Curry would get enough space off the pick and nail a ridiculous 3-pointer. As Horford closed out — Horford landed in Curry’s air space and the foul was upgraded to a flagrant. The 18 point lead was cut to five — and with Horford not learning from his previous mistakes — Curry connected on another 3-pointer moments later to retake the lead at 83-82.

But, this wasn’t enough as the Celtics role players continued to nail timely buckets. Aided by the five critical turnovers from the Warriors in the fourth quarter — the Celtics had enough offensive firepower to pull away and get the critical Game Three victory. Curry also went down with an injury late in the fourth quarter in a scramble and his status is currently unknown for Game Four.

“Well, we need [Curry] if we want to win this thing,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “I’m really hoping [Curry’s] OK because he’s our identity and without him it would be very difficult.”

The Celtics came out firing to start the game. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown made his impact felt from the tip as he scored 17 of his 27 points in the first quarter.

The Celtics got off to a quick 10-2 run in the first quarter after Brown nailed a corner 3-pointer off a second-chance opportunity. Similarly to Game Two — the Celtics started five-for-seven from the field, whereas the Warriors went two-for-six.

Though Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum and Brown are known for their heavy isolation game — the duo made an adjustment and got rid of the ball earlier instead of forcing themselves into tougher situations.

Additionally, the Celtics were able to take advantage of the Warriors lack of size and athleticism by dominating the paint. Midway through the second quarter — the Celtics already had 18 points in the paint. Moreover, the Celtics out rebounded the Warriors 47-31 — and 15 of those rebounds came from offensive rebounds, which led to 22 second-chance points.

Celtics center Robert Williams had an impactful game as well — registering four blocks and making things physical on the defensive end for the Celtics.

“It was huge and not only the shots that [Williams] did block but the ones [Wiliams] altered,” Celtics Head Coach Ime Udoka said. “His presence down there deters guys from driving. When we get nights like this from [Williams], it obviously plays dividends for us.”

Though the Warriors were unable to capitalize on their third quarter comeback, one positive was that Thompson started looking like himself.

Thompon’s struggles in the first two games of the NBA Finals were well documented. After Game Two — Warriors coaches and players knew that it was only a matter of time before Thompson had a breakout game. Thompson finished Game Three with 25 points on 7-for-17 shooting and nailed five 3-pointers.

“I think he’s just pressing a little bit,” Kerr said. “He just wants so badly to do well, that he’s taking some bad [shots]. I’m not particularly concerned about it, because this isn’t the first time this happened.”

In the end — the Warriors weren’t locked in from the tip and paid the price. Warriors forward Draymond Green fouled out of the game and was a -13 — which was uncharacteristic.

Though Warriors forward Otto Porter Jr. made some key baskets — the Warriors need more production out of guard Jordan Poole to counter the Celtics bench. Poole — who averaged 19.3 points prior to the NBA Finals — has been relatively quiet. Even though it’s only Poole’s first playoff run — the Warriors need him to step up in order to have a better chance against the Celtics.

With the Celtics winning the critical Game Three — look for the Warriors to respond in Game Four on Friday, June 10.

(Photo credit: Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)