NBA Finals lead 3-0 as Celtics fight off a furious Dallas rally behind goals from Tatum and Brown (106–99).
DALLAS (AP) — After helping Boston avert the greatest collapse in an NBA Finals game since at least 1997, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown exchanged extended embraces.
The prize? The stars of the Celtics are about to join a long list of well-known predecessors to raise a banner over the parquet flooring at home.
With a 106-99 victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday night, the Celtics took a 3-0 lead and held off a furious Dallas charge. Tatum scored 31 points, Brown had 30, and the team advanced to the edge of a record 18th championship.
With ten straight playoff wins and a 7-0 road record this playoffs, Brown finished with eight rebounds and eight assists to help the Celtics extend their franchise record. If they triumph in Dallas on Friday, they can win the series and end a tie with the Lakers for the most NBA titles.
Furthermore, Boston can put the near-loss of a 21-point lead with 11 minutes remaining behind them.
According to Tatum, “I’m not really trying to look too much into it.” The fundamental element of a basketball game is the run. Nothing is ever going to go as you had hoped. Tonight, we demonstrated our tenacity, which is a vital trait for a champion.”
With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined due to a rare tendon injury in his lower left leg suffered in Game 2, Boston Celtics advanced to 10-1 in these playoffs without the Latvian.
It’s unclear how Porzingis will fare in the remaining games of the series, but it might not matter. Not one of the 156 teams who faced a 3-0 disadvantage in the NBA playoffs has come back to win the series.
Thirteen years after Dallas’ greatest fourth-quarter comeback in the NBA Finals’ play-by-play history (since 1997), when a 15-point comeback in Game 2 launched the team’s drive to its lone championship against Miami, the Mavericks nearly pulled off a wild comeback to escape the large deficit.
After a 20-5 run early in the fourth quarter, Boston led 91-70. With 3 1/2 minutes left, Dallas responded with a 22-2 run to pull within a point.
The issue was that, with 4:12 remaining, after a challenge was rejected, Luka Doncic committed his sixth foul. This came just before Kyrie Irving, who finished with 35 points, made a jumper to bring Dallas within one.
From there, Tatum and Brown kept the Celtics alive with a little assistance from 16-point scorer Derrick White. The last 13 Boston points were scored by those three combined, putting the Celtics within one win of their first championship since 2008 and only their second since 1986.
Only once, in 1959, did the Celtics win the NBA Finals 3-0 after eliminating the Lakers in a sweep.
Trying to avoid losing in a seven-game series for just the second time in the team’s history is the main priority for Dallas.
Dereck Lively II, a rookie centre for the Mavs, stated, “We just got to make history.” “We got to go out there and we just got to play like our lives are on the line.”
The score remained at 93-90 for over three minutes in a game that appeared to be over early in the fourth quarter. This included the time when Doncic was flagged for a blocking foul when Brown was driving.
Given that the task involved attempting to keep their best player from being disqualified, the Mavs had nothing to lose.
Washington Jr., Irving, and Tim Hardaway Jr. each missed a 3-pointer in the final minute without Doncic.
“We were in a good position,” Doncic stated. “We had a tight relationship. simply failed to understand.
Super Bowl-winning quarterback and Dallas Mavericks supporter Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs regularly got up from his seat close to midcourt, igniting an electrifying Dallas crowd eager for its first finals game in thirteen years.
Following two losses in Boston, the Mavs capitalised on the momentum and built up their largest lead of the series, leading 22–9 at the half. Doncic and Irving both scored three points and drove for baskets.
In response, the Celtics ended the first quarter with a 21-9 score. Sam Hauser finished the half with two of his three first-half three-point tries, capping a run that began with four points from Tatum and four from Brown.
The first six minutes of the second quarter were dominated by defence, with Boston leading 5-2 when Irving and Tatum exchanged three-pointers to spark a scoring spree.
Tatum remarked, “They came out swinging.” “That was anticipated. The throng was behind them, and they were at home. We anticipated their opening blow.”
Before the Mavs’ late comeback, it seemed the Celtics would coast after outshooting the Mavs 35-19 in the third quarter. And Tatum and Brown’s response.
Brown remarked, “We’ve experienced those moments a lot.” And when we’ve been in those situations, we’ve come up short. Overcoming that alongside my brother, Jason, and our team was fantastic. That was unique.”
In a mostly empty arena, a few Celtics fans let out joyful screams when it was finished, as if they had begun the inevitable celebration.
All parties except the Celtics.
Coach Joe Mazzulla stated, “You have to realise that we are just as vulnerable as they are, if not more so than they are.” “You have to fight when you realise that you’re defenceless and that the wall is against you. That’s the kind of thinking we need to have.”
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