Zolak & Bertrand: Is Game 3 the Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown Game?
On Thursday’s edition of Zolak & Bertrand, the crew discusses whether Game 3 of the NBA Finals was the Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown Game.
Jaylen Brown took it over in the end…
Marc Bertrand:
Whose game was it? Was this the Jayson Tatum game that we were looking for or was this the Jaylen Brown game last night? Who do you want to give it to?
Scott Zolak:
To me it felt like it was like 75% going to Tatum and then at the end it became Brown. It was both really. Tatum needed that type of night, you know, to finally get over the 30 mark there for the people that love scoring. I thought he was authoritative at the end with that dunk. I want to see more of that stuff along with Brown’s one hander down the middle. Oh my God, like that was emphatic. I think it was both of them. It’s like what we talked about yesterday without Porzingis, the stage was there’s. Someone had to elevate. And Tim, you said it was going to be it was going to be Tatum. Become that guy last night, had that marquee game and it was going to be his. Then it felt like Brown took it at the end. That’s all. I think it was both of them. I do.
Tim McKone:
That was my big takeaway. Like, I just thought that was the performance you were waiting for if you were a Celtics fan. Look, we knew they were gonna win the championship, but to me, that kind of encapsulated that it’s their time because both of those guys stepped up in that game in crucial spots, in the first quarter when they got punched in the mouth by The Mavericks. Jayson Tatum stepped up, carried you offensively. And then in the second half, I thought Jaylen Brown was unbelievable. If it’s a Tatum or Brown game, that was Jaylen Brown’s game.
Listen to the full segment!
Celtics take commanding 3-0 NBA Finals lead over Mavericks after 106-99 win in Game 3
DALLAS, TEXAS – JUNE 12: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics dribbles the ball while being guarded by Tim Hardaway Jr. #10 of the Dallas Mavericks in the second quarter in Game Three of the 2024 NBA Finals at American Airlines Center on June 12, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
Fourth Quarter:
Jaylen Brown would continue his unbelievable play from the third quarter, drawing an offensive foul and then hitting a 3 pointer to extend Boston’s lead to 88-70. That wasn’t enough for Boston though after another staunch defensive stand Derrick White would hit a 3 of his own to give Boston a 21 point lead 91-70 with 11:06 to go.
With Boston on the brink of a 3-0 series lead Dallas would need it’s best basketball of the season to have any hope of not heading into Friday night’s game on the brink of elimination. Dallas would start to chip away at Boston’s lead with some massive defensive stops and big 3 point shooting from Washington and Green to cut Boston’s lead to 91-80 with 8:23 to go in the game. Jaylen Brown would answer the Dallas run scoring a tough jumper to give Boston a 93-82 lead with 7:45 to go and Dallas clawing it’s way back into the game. PJ Washington would hit a 3 pointer to cap off a 17-2 Dallas run cutting Boston’s lead to just six.
Holiday would foul Kyrie Irving on a 3 point attempt to give Dallas a chance to cut it to a one possession game with 6:21 to go in the game and Boston now clinging to it’s lead. Boston would continue to melt down turning it over on the next possession and getting lucky that Dallas would miss a 3 pointer to tie. Luka would get his 5th foul of the game with 4:38 to go a troubling sign for Mavericks fans with Boston still holding a 93-90 lead. Boston would make a point to attack Luka Doncic on the very next possession and he would foul Jaylen Brown, sending him out of game 3 with his team trailing by 3 on the brink of a 3-0 series deficit. Jason Kidd would challenge the call in an act of desperation but it was to no avail as the challenge was unsuccessful and Luka was out of the game with 4:12 to go.
With Luka out now Boston would heavily defend Kyrie Irving and hope they could contain the Mavericks role players and secure a 3-0 series lead. Tatum would miss another big shot but Jaylen Brown would clean it up and score off an offensive rebound to give the Celtics a 95-92 lead. Jrue Holiday would step up huge again for Boston as he’s done all postseason long drawing an offensive foul on the next possession to give Boston the ball back leading by 3. Boston who had been maligned in the clutch in recent years would continue to make plays with Derrick White who started the game ice cold hitting a massive 3 pointer to extend the Boston lead to 98-92 with just over 2:30 to go in the game.
Boston would take a 4 point lead into the final 2 minutes of the game, the Celtics would miss a 3 pointer and give Dallas a chance to cut it to a one possession game again and they would with a Derrick Lively dunk to make it 100-98 with 1:20 to go in the game. Jaylen Brown who was far and away Boston’s best player in the second half would hit a massive shot to extend Boston’s lead to four, 102-98 a minute to go in the game. Kyrie Irving would go on to miss a massive 3 point shot that would have cut Boston’s lead to one and Derrick White would get fouled on the rebound attempt to all but assure the victory and 3-0 series lead for the Celtics. White would go on to hit both free throws to extend the Celtics lead to six with 22 seconds to go and the Mavericks season hanging on by a thread. Dallas wouldn’t be able to get it any closer as Boston would go on to win 106-99 taking a commanding 3-0 series lead on the brink of banner 18.
