CUPANG, Muntinlupa – Celtics held off Dallas’ late game run to secure the 3rd game of the NBA Finals with a 106-99 win on June 13 at the American Airlines Center to grasp for a possible 18th championship of the franchise.
Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown led the Celtics to win Game 3 as they both stayed in the game for more than 40 minutes in the game.
Tatum finished the game with 31 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal while Brown tallied 30 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 1 block.
Boston Celtics extended their post-season win streak to 10 consecutive playoff wins and 7-0 on the road.
Al Horford was good on both sides of the court garnering 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block that helped Celtics manage their lead over the Mavericks.
Boston had a 20-5 run from the late 3rd quarter to the early 4th quarter, but Dallas recovered with their 22-2 run which closed the gap to a single point with less than 4 minutes in the game clock.
Luca Doncic’s hands were also all over the ball with 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Doncic failed to contribute even more after an unsuccessful coach’s challenge for his 6th foul with 4:12 remaining in the game.
Kyrie Irving, ending the game with 35 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, tried to carry the Mavericks to a win without Doncic after getting fouled out.
Big men PJ Washington and Dereck Lively II helped their superstars with PJ tallying 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Lively II garnered 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Boston ruled out their 7-foot-2-inch Latvian Kristaps Porzingis about 2 hours before tip-off with the rare lower left leg tendon injury he suffered during the Game 2.
The Celtics only had 8 players in their rotation throughout the game, but 6 players did not play due to the coach’s decision.
Boston’s 5-man squad of their starting lineup played at least 37 minutes in the entire game.
The start of the game was dominated by the good offense and defense by the Mavericks, but Boston started to recover with Tatum’s 26-foot three pointer during the 5 1/2-minute mark of the 1st quarter.
The entire 2nd quarter was back and forth on both teams, exchanging runs, leads, makes, and misses.
Boston started to outscore the Mavericks 4 minutes into the 3rd quarter after a 27-foot three pointer made by Jrue Holiday.
The first half concluded with a tight score of 51-50 in favor of the Mavericks.
The 3rd quarter ended with 85-70 in favor of the Celtics with a 14-5 run since the 5-minute mark of the quarter.
During the Mavs’ late game push in the last quarter, they were scoring bit by bit, but Boston was able to provide answers as well.
No team out of the 156 teams that faced a 3-0 score in an NBA Playoffs ever got to come back with a reverse sweep in a series.
If Boston wins Game 4 and the championship, they will break their tie with the Lakers for the most NBA championship made by a team and franchise.
The NBA Finals Game 4 will be held at American Airlines Center Dallas, TX on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at 8:30 AM (PHT).