On Wednesday (June 12), local time, the Boston Celtics continued their dominance over Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals to make it three wins in a row following a 106-99 victory and take a 3-0 lead. Fueled by their star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Celtics managed to negate a furious Dallas rally to beat the Mavericks 106-99 and are just a win away to secure this year’s NBA championship.
Tatum was in roaring form as he broke out of his scoring doldrums to score 31 points. Brown, on the other hand, scored 15 of his 30 in a scorching third quarter and the Celtics are now just a win away from attaining a record-setting 18th NBA crown. Currently, they share the record of 17 titles with LA Lakers and will aim to go past them in game four on Friday.
However, it won’t be a cakewalk as the Mavericks have given a tough fight despite the results not going in their favour. It is to be noted that no team has rallied from 3-0 down to win an NBA playoff series, hence, the Mavericks have their task cut-out.
From Mavericks’ point of view, they did manage to cut a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to two points with 1:20 to play. Kyrie Irving’s cutting dunk pulled the Mavericks within 100-98. By that point, Mavs star Luka Doncic fouled out with 4:12 remaining, earning his fifth and sixth fouls in less than a minute.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd challenged both, however, lost. With Doncic departing, the Mavs down were in a nervy position but kept pressing hard. However, it wasn’t enough as Brown drilled a jump shot to push the lead back to four. In addition, after Irving missed a tough three-pointer, White and Tatum each made a pair of free throws as the Celtics managed to go ahead eventually.
After the match, Brown said, “That was a big-time win for us, and I’m proud of how we played today. They had some momentum, but we kept our poise. We made timely baskets. We got some good shots going in, and we found a way to win.”