The Boston Celtics are one game from Banner 18, though it may not have looked quite as easy as it could have. Leading by as many as 21 points, the Celtics surrendered a 20-2 run to the Dallas Mavericks in the fourth quarter, but made all the crucial plays in crunch time to secure a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals, 106-99.
Jayson Tatum had a resurgent night, recording 31 points after struggling as a scorer in the first two games of the series. Jaylen Brown added 30, thriving in the second half, while Derrick White added 16. For the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving had his best game of the Finals with 35 points, but Luka Doncic (27 points) fouled out late in the fourth quarter. Dereck Lively II added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this postseason, the Mavericks looked energized to kick off the game. They opened the night on a 9-2 run, forcing Joe Mazzulla to call timeout less than two minutes into the game. Dallas pushed ahead to their largest lead of the entire series — which, remarkably, was just eight points — with a 13-5 early edge, and they extended it as high as 13 in the ensuing minutes as the Boston offense appeared to be reeling.
Their momentum fizzled as the quarter wore on. The Celtics steadied themselves, and methodically put together a run. Behind an encouraging start from Tatum (13 first quarter points) and a pair of threes from Sam Hauser, the Celtics built an 11-0 stretch and erased the Dallas lead. They trailed by just a single point entering the second quarter, 31-30.
Questionable coming into the night with a highly unprecedented injury to his left leg, Kristaps Porzingis was ultimately ruled out by the Boston medical staff for Game 3. In his absence, significantly increased responsibility was placed on Horford and the Boston reserves. Horford, as always, acquitted himself well in the first half, but the question mark was who Mazzulla would opt to bring off the bench.
The answer appeared to be Xavier Tillman Sr., who checked in twice off the bench in the first half as the clear backup to Horford. He responded brilliantly, defending decisively and aggressively and helping frustrate the Mavericks’ offense. He recorded just six minutes, but his +4 plus-minus in that stretch illustrated a notable impact, especially in a half in which all five starters recorded negative figures.
After a scoreless stretch to open the second, the Celtics claimed the lead for the first time on layup from Brown. There wasn’t much scoring to follow, however. At the midway point of the quarter, the tally sat just 5-3 Celtics, with the refs allowing a lot of contact in a defense-oriented stretch of basketball. As the clock ticked down, the game morphed into a showdown between Tatum and Irving — both scoring 20 first half points. The outcome was, essentially, a standstill — the teams matched each other at 20 points apiece in the quarter, and entered the halftime break with an identical one-point gap, Dallas leading 51-50.
The teams traded buckets in the early minutes of the third quarter, hot potato-ing the lead back and forth for a time. Consecutive threes from Holiday and Tatum with just under nine minutes to play sparked a Boston surge. The Celtics kicked ahead as far as eight points in the ensuing minutes, and continued to push it further as the Mavericks appeared rattled. Tillman got in on the fun, connecting on his very first three-point attempt of the NBA Playoffs to push the Boston advantage to 13 points with two minutes remaining in the quarter. After an assertive 35-point third quarter, they entered the fourth looking to close out the Mavericks once again, leading 85-70.
A familiar refrain: the Celtics enjoying a double-digit advantage, needing to lock in and close out their opponent in the fourth quarter. They started off on the right foot, with Brown and White cashing in on consecutive threes to force Mavericks coach Jason Kidd to call timeout, the Celtics leading by 21 with just under 11 minutes remaining in regulation. The Mavericks responded with a 10-0 run of their own, though, prompting Mazzulla to do likewise. This was not going to end up a blowout.
The Mavericks cut the lead to nine on a pair of free throws from Washington, and a floater from Washington and three-pointer from Irving further trimmed the lead to six as the clock ticked under seven minutes in regulation. A 17-2 run from Dallas was exacerbated further when Holiday was whistled for a foul on Irving on a three-point attempt, leading to three made freebies from Irving to cut the lead down to just three points. Washington and Holiday missed three-point jumpers, and Kidd called for timeout with 5:25 to play.
After play resumed, Doncic missed a bunny of a layup, giving the Celtics a chance to shift the game’s momentum. Brown took the ball in the post, but went to the ground after an apparent foul by Doncic, his fifth of the game. Moments later, Doncic disqualified himself from the game with his sixth, a blocking foul on Brown — promptly challenged by Kidd. This was a lengthy review, fitting considering its importance, but the ruling was upheld. Doncic fouled out of the game with 4:12 remaining in regulation.
Despite Doncic’s disqualification, the game was not over. Irving hit a pull-up jumper to bring Dallas with a point on the Mavericks’ next possession. Brown tipped in a missed floater from Tatum to restore a three-point advantage, and Washington was whistled for an illegal screen on the ensuing inbounds pass — a call the Mavericks could not challenge, after they lost the Doncic challenge. White drilled a three on the Celtics’ gifted possession, restoring a six-point lead for the Celtics with 2:48 to play.
Irving found his way to the line against Holiday again, drawing a foul on a two-point shot and connecting on both free throws, but Tatum wiped those points away with a ferocious dunk in the paint. Rookie center Dereck Lively II kept Dallas alive, scoring off of an offensive rebound and then finishing an easy dunk off a feed from Irving to bring the Mavericks back within two points.
After a frenetic final quarter of basketball, Brown provided the dagger. He connected on a smooth pull-up 20-foot jumper to put the Celtics ahead by four with 1:01 remaining in regulation. Irving missed a three-pointer on the following possession, and the Mavericks intentionally fouled White, who converted on both of his free throw attempts. Tim Hardaway Jr.’s pull-up three pointer fell short, and the Celtics secured a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals, 106-99.
Next up, the Celtics will have their first chance to secure Banner 18, facing the Mavericks in Game 4 in Dallas at 8:30 PM EST on ABC.
