On Wednesday night in Dallas the Boston Celtics take their 2-0 series lead and perfect road playoff record into Texas to try and take a dominant 3-0 series lead without Kristaps Porzingis. The Mavericks will look to defend home court and get back into the series with the news that the Celtics will be without Porzingis this may be their best shot to get back into the series. Boston will need more out of their superstar in Jayson Tatum in this one with the absence of Porzingis, the Celtics will need Tatum to find his offense if they’re going to put the Mavericks on the brink of elimination and Boston on the brink of another title.
First Quarter:
Boston would roll out it’s normal starting five without Porzingis with Horford starting in his place, Boston would need to rely on the 38 year old heavily again with Porzingis out. Dallas would strike first in game 1 with Kyrie Irving who struggled in the first two games scoring first giving the Mavericks an early 2-0 lead. Dallas would come out with a lot of jump in game 3 getting out to a quick 9-2 lead with 10:12 to go in the first quarter forcing Joe Mazzulla to call an early timeout. The Celtics would immediately answer out of the timeout with a Horford 3 pointer cutting Dallas’ lead to 9-5 with Horford scoring all 5 points early for Boston. Jayson Tatum would continue to struggle early in this one having a few turnovers and missed buckets from in close giving Boston fans some cause for concern early.
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.
