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CHAD FINN

Giving credit where it’s due for Celtics’ comeback

Jonas Jerebko (left) scored 10 points in Game 3.Jason Miller/Getty Images

CLEVELAND – You know what they say about the NBA playoffs. It’s not really a series until the home team wins one at home.

Actually, that’s not what they say at all. But even Pat Riley-spawned clichés are being turned upside down three games into this suddenly wild Eastern Conference finals matchup between the Celtics and Cavaliers.

After losing the first two games on the TD Garden parquet in humbling fashion, including a 44-point humiliation in Game 2, the Celtics came to Quicken Loans Arena minus injured All-Star Isaiah Thomas and with little presumed chance of winning.

It was supposed to be a survival mission, and it was presumed a doomed one. What happened instead was a revival, one that stands as a reminder, no matter how the rest of this series plays out, that this may not be the most talented Celtics team we’ve ever seen, but it’s on the short list of the boldest and most resilient.

The Celtics rallied from a 21-point third quarter deficit Sunday night to hand the justifiably cocky Cavaliers their first loss of the postseason, 111-108, on Avery Bradley’s 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining.

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The shot bounced and bounced and bounced on the rim before dropping through the net, stunning into silence a Cleveland crowd that spent much of the night basking in game presentation so relentlessly garish that it makes Coach Willie Maye sound like a National Public Radio host.

It would require less time and space to list the Celtics who didn’t contribute significantly to the victory rather than all of those who did. Let’s list them anyway, because at a point when the season seemed lost — and perhaps lost in a manner so brutal that it would damage our memories of all of the good stuff that happened this season — every single one of them deserves credit.

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Start with Marcus Smart. Starting in place of Thomas, who is sidelined for the series with a hip injury, Smart delivered a performance brilliant in unexpected ways. A 28-percent shooter from 3-point range during the regular season, the mercurial third-year guard knocked down 7 of 10 3-point attempts — and 8 of 14 shots overall — en route to a team-high 27 points.

(Quick public service announcement: If you hear someone suggest that the Celtics are better without Thomas, please turn off your radio — with a hammer.)

Smart also dished out 7 assists, grabbed 5 rebounds, turned the ball over just twice, played his usual rabid defense, and never backed down when challenged, physically or verbally. If you didn’t see that performance and think of Dennis Johnson circa 1984, do yourself a favor and read up on what made DJ tick. Smart isn’t the player DJ was, but he’s just as tough and fearless in big moments. He can be an enigma, but he is a winning player.

Who else? There was Bradley with the game-winner, giving him 20 points in a team-high 42 minutes. There was Kelly Olynyk who, booed like a wrestling heel by a Cleveland crowd that definitely believes wrestling is real, scoring 4 huge points down the stretch. There was Al Horford, who had a rough shooting night (7 of 18) but was the fulcrum of the offense on a couple of pivotal late possessions. There was Jonas Jerebko . . .

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Wait, wait, wait . . . Jonas Jerebko? Yep, there was Jerebko. That Jerebko. A favorite at this address — he’s adequate at everything, I tell you, and that is not an insult — has not been a favorite for the man whose opinion matters most. Jerebko has accrued six Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision this postseason, including Game 1 of this series. In the nine games he had played prior to Sunday, he averaged just 2.3 points in 9.6 minutes per game.

So what did he give the Celtics Sunday when called upon? Nothing much. Just everything he had and everything they needed. Jerebko scored 10 points (on 4 of 4 shooting) and grabbed 5 rebounds in 12:32 of playing time. In terms of unlikely heroes, this wasn’t quite Greg Kite coming off the bench to grab nine rebounds and swat a Magic Johnson shot in Game 3 of the 1987 Finals. But it wasn’t that far off, either. Here’s to Jerebko, whose adequacy briefly turned extraordinary.

Video: Jerebko gives Celtics 108-106 lead

Here’s a question: When did you think the Celtics really had a chance at winning? I’m presuming it was sometime before the second bounce of Bradley’s winner, but when? There wasn’t much margin for hope early. Kevin Love came out on fire, hitting seven first-half 3-pointers (remember when he was a burly post player?) as the Cavs built leads of 35-24 at the end of the first quarter and 66-50 at the half. The Celtics didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half (44.4 percent to the Cavs’ 60 percent), but they played hard and relatively well, and still trailed by double-digits.

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It would have been easy to become demoralized. Turns out that’s not their way, though it did require a good chunk of the third quarter for them to get around to reminding us of that truth. The Cavs led with 6 minutes, 39 seconds left in the third, 77-56, their biggest advantage of the night. Three Smart 3-pointers and less than three minutes later, the Cavs lead was down to 10, 80-70.

The game had officially entered its “hmmm” stage, but even then, it seemed inevitable that James would take over and the Cavs would cruise. He never did — he finished with just 11 points — and the Celtics never relented, finally taking their first lead since the game’s early moments on an Olynyk floater with 4:21 left to make it 99-98.

Remarkably, the lead would be theirs at the final buzzer, thanks to Bradley’s touch and a cooperative rim. Whether this is a sign that the Celtics have a shot in this series after all or merely a battle boldly won en route to eventual defeat remains to be seen.

But at the least, it’s something to feel good about, a visceral reminder of why this is a team to admire, even with its imperfections. It turns out they are who we thought they were, true to themselves until a bounce finally went their way.

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Box score: Celtics 111, Cavaliers 108


Chad Finn can be reached at finn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn.