Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) and fans celebrate his basket during the second quarter of Game 3 against the Brooklyn Nets in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Friday night. Tatum will be able to celebrate with many more fans as now the C's can have a near capacity crowd. (AP photo)

The Boston Celtics got a little momentum with their Game 3 win over the Brooklyn Nets in their Eastern Conference first round series Friday night.

Tonight at 7 they may get even more as they look to even the series at two games apiece. The Celtics will be allowed to have a near-capacity crowd in TD Garden as Massachusetts lifted the limits Saturday on crowd sizes due to the pandemic. It was limited to 25% on Friday.

That didn’t bother Celtic Jason Tatum, who offset Brooklyn’s James Harden’s 41 point performance with a brilliant 50 of his own.

“He was just locked in mentally,” teammate Marcus Smart said of Tatum. “We’re going up against a juggernaut of a team. Like I said before, the world knows it and we know it. It’s not going to be easy. You can’t lay down, you can’t take a step back. You have to be able to press forward and that’s what we did tonight.”

“I think they were a little desperate and became the aggressor after our hot start,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “They were the ones looking to drive the ball and they were the ones looking to step in with 3s. They got themselves going, took the momentum, got the crowd going and started feeling confidence for the first time in three games.”

Well the crowd could be even more of a factor tonight.

SERIES WINNER GETS MILWAUKEE

The Milwaukee Bucks now await the winner of this series as they completed a four game sweep of the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat on Saturday, 120-103.

Brook Lopez scored 25 points, Bryn Forbes scored 22 and Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double — 20 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists — for Milwaukee.

The third-seeded Bucks won’t play again until at least next Saturday. Their East semifinals series against either second-seeded Brooklyn or seventh-seeded Boston will start on June 5 if the Nets advance in five games; in any other scenario, the Bucks will next play on June 7.

“We’ve got a long ways to go,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “It’s the first round of the playoffs. I think there’s got to be humility, a humbleness, an attitude or a mindset to get better. We’ve advanced in the first round. Whoever we play next, we’ve got to have the similar focus, a similar edge, willingness to play with each other, play together, all the things that we just did. Means nothing if we don’t keep doing it going forward.”

TONIGHT’S NOTES

The Celtics are 4-8 against division opponents. Boston averages 44.2 rebounds per game and is 25-14 when outrebounding opponents.

The Nets are 8-4 against the rest of their division. Brooklyn has a 47-21 record when scoring 100 or more points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tatum is averaging 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Celtics. Evan Fournier is averaging 16.1 points and 3.4 assists over the last 10 games for Boston.

Kevin Durant leads the Nets averaging 26.9 points while adding 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Kyrie Irving is averaging 22.6 points over the last 10 games for Brooklyn.

LAST 10 GAMES: Celtics: 3-7, averaging 111.2 points, 42.3 rebounds, 23 assists, seven steals and 6.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 113.5 points on 46.7% shooting.

Nets: 7-3, averaging 117.6 points, 44.1 rebounds, 25.7 assists, 6.8 steals and 6.6 blocks per game while shooting 50.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.5 points on 42.8% shooting.

INJURIES: Celtics: Jaylen Brown: out for season (wrist).

Nets: Spencer Dinwiddie: out for season (acl), Jeff Green: out (foot).

(Telegraph staff writer Tom King contributed to this report.)

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