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Despite a nightmare fourth quarter that nearly saw them squander a 21-point lead, the Boston Celtics are one win from claiming a record 18th NBA championship.
Boston held off a spirited comeback attempt from the Dallas Mavericks to win Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals 106-99 and take a 3-0 lead, all but putting the series away in front of the American Airlines Center crowd in Dallas. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Game 4 is scheduled for Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET in Dallas (ABC).
The Mavericks entered the game with some reason for hope after Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis, one of Boston’s best players in Games 1 and 2, was ruled out due to a “rare” injury. That absence appeared to hurt Boston early on, as Dallas hammered the paint as it took an early 22-9 lead.
As they have many times this postseason, the Celtics quickly regrouped. They chipped away at the deficit until its was only one point by the end of the first quarter and played Dallas to a tie in the second quarter.
Then came the third quarter, when the bottom fell out for the Mavericks. Just as Dallas stars Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving began to tire, the Celtics hit them with a barrage of 3-pointers to take a commanding lead in the second half.
It could have been over from there, with Boston taking a 91-70 lead at 11:07 of the fourth quarter. But the Mavericks responded with a 22-2 run over the course of nearly eight minutes to cut the deficit to one. The blow that stifled that frenetic comeback ended up coming via whistle, when Dončić fouled out of the game with 4:12 remaining.
It was the first time Dončić had fouled out all season and in his postseason career.
Without Dončić, the Mavericks fell short of pulling off the comeback. And now they need to mount an even bigger comeback for the series.
Dončić exited with 27 points on 27 shots, six assists and six rebounds, while Irving led all scorers with 35 points on 13-of-28 shooting. The Mavericks have relied on their two-man game for much of the playoffs, but it was the Celtics’ duo that made the bigger difference overall.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each had their first 30-point…
Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-finals-2024-score-live-updates-boston-celtics-dallas-mavericks-game-3-luka-doncic-jayson-tatum-230229954.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-12 23:02:29
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