The Boston Celtics survive the Dallas Mavericks’ historic comeback to improve to 3-0 in the NBA Finals. They are now one win away from a sweep and an NBA crown.
Joe Mazzulla took his squad on the road in the FInals for the first time and after a rough start, the Celtics responded and went into halftime only down one point. An explosion in the third quarter by Boston gave them a 85-70 lead going into the fourth.
Two straight threes made by Boston gave them a 21 point lead with 11 minutes to go. The game looked all but sealed. However, Dallas would storm back with a 22-2 run in seven minutes to cut the lead to one point.
After going back and forth after that, Dallas could never tie or take the lead with Luka Doncic on the bench after fouling out with four minutes to play. Mazzulla’s squad would hold on to win 106-99.
The duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston, scoring 31 and 30 respectively. They also combined for 14 rebounds and 13 assists.
The performance from Mazzulla’s two stars was much needed after news broke pregame that Boston’s 7-foot-2 center, Kristaps Porzingis, would miss game three with a lingering ankle injury. Porzingis already missed over a month in the postseason due to a calf strain.
Boston now moves one game away from an NBA Championship and has quite the cushion on their lead. No team has ever come back from 3 games down to win a series in the NBA.
However, Boston should know more than anyone how doable it is after they came back from 3-0 to force a game seven against the Miami Heat last season in the Eastern COnference Finals. They would go on to lose game seven but ultimately made it anyone’s series.
Game four is set for Friday night in Dallas at 8:30 p.m. ET. Should Boston win, it would be the franchise’s 18th title and Mazzulla would become the youngest head coach to win a title since 1969.
If Dallas is able to avoid the sweep, the series would move back to Boston in game five which would be played on Monday, June 17. All games can be viewed on ABC or streamed through ESPN+.
