Defense has always been part of the Celtics’ DNA, and it may lead them to Banner No. 18 – The Boston Globe

Defense is at the core of the Celtics, not just this edition, but woven into the franchises championship DNA. In the spirit of Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Dave Cowens, Dennis Johnson, and Kevin Garnett, the Celtics applied it suffocatingly when it was needed most. That adamantine defense was inescapable and impenetrable, even for a generationally gifted Golden State team. Their defensive stance and stand have the Celtics two wins away from Banner No. 18.

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In a sport where offensive output routinely lands in the triple digits, defense wins championships. Its clich and true. It definitely won this contest after the Warriors took their first lead since 2-0 83-82 on a Curry quick-trigger 27-footer with 3:45 left in the third, stunning the rowdy TD Garden crowd.

From that point, the Celtics limited the Warriors to just 7 of 22 from the floor over the final 15-plus minutes. Golden State registered two threes in its final 13 attempts. Curry (31 points and six threes) and Thompson (25 points and five treys), who rained 25 of their points in the third, were more like Drip and Drab than Splash Brothers, shooting a combined 3 for 12 after Currys lead-snatching salvo.

Of course, they hit some big shots there, said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. But we talked about it quite a bit, our group being resilient and being able to fight through a lot of things and at times when its most needed, being able to lock down on defense, which we did in the fourth quarter.

Did they ever

The Celtics turned more penurious than famed fake German heiress Anna Delvey. They gave Golden State nothing and took everything, drowning out the Dubs, 23-11, in the fourth after allowing 34 and 33 points in the second and third quarters.

Golden State shot 11 for 22 overall and 7 for 14 from three in the third to flip the game. However, coach Steve Kerrs crew mustered a meager 5 of 15 against the Celtics dominant defense in the final frame. The Celtics surrendered zero offensive rebounds and forced half of the 16 Warriors turnovers.

They did a great job pressuring us, said Kerr. We went back to Steph to start the fourth. We gave him the last three minutes or so of the third because we knew we were going to have to score to start that fourth quarter. Just couldnt get anything to go.

We had a couple turnovers and a couple shots that didnt go down, and they took advantage.

The Celtics defensive appetite and aptitude should not be surprising, nor should it be a surprise that defense carried the charge on a night when Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart all scored 24 points or more.

The one constant in a season of unpredictability and a remarkable sea change in fortune has been the Greens defensive prowess.

Udoka said the defensive buy-in came quickly in his first season on the Boston bench. It was the offensive buy-in that didnt kick in until January when the season took a sharp U-turn toward title contention.

During the regular season, the Celtics had the No. 1 defense in the NBA, allowing 106.2 points per 100 possessions. Thats dipped to 105.9 in the postseason, second only to Milwaukee. They held opponents to a league-best 43.4 percent shooting during the regular season. Its 43.5 in the playoffs.

Defense is the Celtics calling card, and they dialed it up big time in the fourth. They had to after they wasted a 68-point first half in their personal basketball Bermuda Triangle the third quarter.

The third has become the vanishing point for the Celtics. They were outscored, 33-25, this time, salvaging a 4-point lead (93-89) to take into the fourth after leading in the third by as many as 14. In their Game 2 loss in San Francisco, they were obliterated, 35-14, in the third.

The theme for the Celtics with the game in the balance was deny, deny, deny.

It helped them restore a double-digit lead via a 9-2 run. The defensive catalyst was center Robert Williams. He collected three steals and had a monster block of a Curry floater in the fourth.

Williams, whos not 100 percent after late-season surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee, left his imprint on this game against the undersized Warriors and motor-mouth Draymond Green, finishing with 8 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals.

When hes healthy, he just adds another element, said Brown, who contributed a tone-setting block of his own in the fourth and finished with a team-high 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.

On top of our defense being good, it turns it to great.

Brown said Williams couldve won Defensive Player of the Year. The Celtics have two Defensive Player of the Year-caliber defenders in Smart, the actual award winner, and Williams, the most impactful Celtic defender.

The Warriors went 0 for 9 when Smart contested a shot, and the fan favorite enjoyed a charmed night offensively too with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists despite 5 turnovers, making his shots count and making them when it counted.

But what looked like a night that would be defined by offense when the Celtics played a sublime first half on that end was instead dictated by defense, fitting for this iteration of the team.

Defense kept them afloat in their darkest hours, and its what delivered them halfway home to a championship.

Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.

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Defense has always been part of the Celtics' DNA, and it may lead them to Banner No. 18 - The Boston Globe