Celtics survive Mavericks’ push to win Game 3 of NBA Finals
The Celtics take a 3-0 lead and are a win away from a title.
Game 3 was much closer than what the Celtics would’ve liked it to be, but they’re one win away from an NBA title.
The Celtics defeated the Mavericks, 106-99, on Wednesday to take a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. They led by as many as 21 points with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter before the Mavericks went on a 22-2 run over a near eight-minute stretch.
Dallas’ run cut Boston’s lead to one with just over three minutes left. However, the Mavericks lost their star for the game a minute earlier when Luka Doncic committed his sixth foul while trying to a charge call on Jaylen Brown.
The Celtics were able to handle business in the final three minutes, with Brown getting a tip-in to end the 22-2 run. Derrick White drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to bring the lead back up to six.
A pair of dunks from Derrick Lively brought the Celtics’ lead back down to two with 1:20 left. But Brown made a clutch jump shot on the ensuing possession and the Mavericks couldn’t convert on their final three 3-point attempts of the night, allowing the Celtics to win.
Kyrie Irving had his best game of the series, scoring 35 points on 13 of 28 shooting. Doncic added 27 points of his own.
But Boston’s star duo outshined them. Tatum scored 20 points in the first half to finish with a team-high 31 points, adding six rebounds and five assists. After scoring just six points in the first half, Brown had 24 in the second half. He also had a game-high eight assists and a team-high eight rebounds in the win.
Now, the Celtics have four chances to get one win. History is on their side as no team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit. Boston became the fourth team to ever force a Game 7 after falling a 3-0 hole last year, so it certainly knows that it can be done.
Here’s everything that happened in the Celtics’ Game 3 win.
4:12 4Q: Luka Doncic fouls out
The Celtics weren’t able to pull away after multiple timeouts from Joe Mazzulla, but they caught a break with just over four minutes remaining.
Doncic committed a blocking foul on back-to-back possessions. He tried to take a charge on the second one from Jaylen Brown. The Mavericks challenged the call, but the call was upheld.
5:25 4Q: Mavericks nearly nullify Celtics’ lead
Dallas’ run continued after Joe Mazzulla called a timeout.
The Celtics struggled to find the bottom of the basket beyond a Jaylen Brown 2-pointer. The Mavericks, meanwhile, were aggressive offensively, with P.J. Washington drawing a pair of free throws and hitting a 3-pointer that cut the Celtics’ lead to six.
Jrue Holiday was too aggressive on a closeout contesting a 3-pointer by Kyrie Irving, allowing the Mavericks’ star guard to go to the free-throw line and make three free throws. The Celtics’ lead was cut down to 93-90 after Irving’s free throws.
8:23 4Q: Mavericks go on a run
Well, the Celtics are going to have to put up fight in the final eight minutes if they want to take a 3-0 lead.
Right after the Celtics took their largest lead of the night, the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run to make it a 91-80 game. Boston struggled to connect offensively, with Payton Pritchard taking a pair of contested jumpers and Jayson Tatum unable to hit a jump shot over Kyrie Irving.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic generated offense for the Mavericks. While he scored just two points over the run, he dished out two assists and drew attention that led to another bucket to make things interesting.
11:06 4Q: The 3s are finally falling for the Celtics
Boston didn’t take its foot off the gas in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown forced a charge call on Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving struggled to score on an ensuing possession.
On the offensive end, Brown and Derrick White connected on a pair of 3-pointers that gave the Celtics their largest lead of the night, making it a 91-70 game.
End of third quarter: Celtics 85, Mavericks 70
The Celtics appear to be well on their way to taking a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
Boston dominated the final minutes of the third quarter, continuing its strong defensive effort while getting some luck on the offensive end. Xavier Tillman knocked down a 3-pointer late in the shot clock that gave the Celtics a 13-point lead. Derrick White banked in a 3-pointer that brought the lead to 13 again in the final minute of the frame.
Jaylen Brown put an exclamation point on the strong thrid quarter by driving down the line and throwing down a vicious dunk over Mavericks defenders to give the Celtics their largest lead of the night.
3:50 3Q: Intensity picks up
The Celtics took their largest lead of the night when they went up, 71-61, with just over six minutes left in the third quarter. But the Mavericks scored four in a row right after.
Dallas wasn’t able to cut further into the lead though over that stretch, with Boston getting good interior defense from Xavier Tillman and others. Luka Doncic was notably upset over the lack of calls on some possessions, but he wasn’t assessed a technical.
8:44 3Q: Celtics perfect to start the second half
Six possessions, six buckets.
That’s how the Celtics opened up the second half. Jaylen Brown hit a pair of short jumpers and Jrue Holiday knocked down a 3-pointer.
Jayson Tatum also remained hot. Derrick White found him cutting to the rim for a layup before knocking down a 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a 64-59 lead. The bucket from Tatum gave the Celtics their largest lead of the night and prompted the Mavericks to call timeout.
Halftime: Mavericks 51, Celtics 50
The second quarter was much more of a defensive showing than an offensive affair. Both teams scored 20 points in the second frame, keeping the Mavericks’ lead at one entering the break.
Jayson Tatum was the Celtics’ clear catalyst on offense in the opening 24 minutes, scoring 20 points to go with two assists. Jaylen Brown wasn’t as effective, scoring just six points on 2 of 6 shooting going into halftime.
The Mavericks’ star duo was strong for most of the first quarter. Kyrie Irving scored 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Luka Doncic added 17 points on 7 of 16 shooting, giving the Mavericks enough offense as the rest of their team combined for just 14 points.
2:29 2Q: Jrue Holiday making hustle plays
After the Mavericks went up by four, the Celtics continued to find whatever they could get offensively. On one possession, they swung the ball around all over before Al Horford took a 3-pointer with a shot clock expiring.
Horford missed the shot, but Holiday was right there to get the offensive rebound and the putback. The basket cut the Mavericks’ lead to 46-45.
4:26 2Q: Jayson Tatum off to best start in the series
The Mavericks’ early lead was nullified in large part because of Tatum. He scored his 18th point of the night on a drive that gave the Celtics a 40-38 lead. With the bucket, Tatum already surpassed his series-high in points. He only scored a combined 13 first-half points in the first two games of the series.
7:57 2Q: Celtics take first lead of the game
Boston continued its strong play from the end of the first quarter into the opening minutes of the second with Jayson Tatum on the bench. Derrick White hit his first 3-pointer after Jaylen Brown made a driving layup to help give the Celtics a 35-33 lead.
The Celtics also got a challenge to go their way, with Joe Mazzulla getting the win after contesting an out-of-bounds call.
End of first quarter: Mavericks 31, Celtics 30
The Celtics and Mavericks traded buckets for much of the final minutes of the first quarter until the final 30 seconds. Boston took advantage of Luka Doncic laying on the court for a few extra moments to run out and get ahead in transition.
First, Sam Hauser hit a 3-pointer to cut the Mavericks’ six-point lead to three with 28 seconds left. After another Doncic miss, Derrick White found Jayson Tatum wide open on a Hail Mary pass for a dunk right before the buzzer to make it a 31-30 game.
The dunk gave Tatum 13 points in the opening frame, a very good sign for the Celtics after his shooting struggles back in Boston.
3:23 1Q: Celtics cut into Mavericks’ lead
The Mavericks took multiple 13-point leads in the middle of the first quarter, holding a 25-12 edge after Kyrie Irving hit his first 3-pointer of the series.
But the Celtics regrouped after Irving’s pull-up 3-pointer. Jaylen Brown made two of his three free throws after being found by Irving on a 3-pointer. He scored two more points after he ran ahead for a layup in transition.
Finally, Jayson Tatum knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game, getting a friendly bounce that cut the Mavericks’ lead to 25-19. Jason Kidd called a timeout following Tatum’s shot.
10:09 1Q: Mavericks out to a hot start
Dallas has used the energy from its home crowd to get out to a quick lead. It scored on four of its first five possessions, with Luka Doncic putting up five points early on to give the Mavericks a 9-2 lead. Joe Mazzulla called timeout following Doncic’s runner after the Celtics committed a turnover and missed two deep shots in their previous offensive possessions.
8:30 p.m.: Moment of silence held for Jerry West
The Mavericks and the NBA honored West, who passed away on Wednesday, ahead of Game 3. West was an NBA icon, winning nine total championships as a player and an executive.
But West was arguably most known for being the inspiration for the NBA’s logo, which is a silhouette of him dribbling a basketball.
West was also an alum of West Virginia, where Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla played basketball. Mazzulla shared the story about a phone call he received from West that he said changed his life.
“My junior year in college, I wasn’t living up to anyone’s standard,” Mazzulla said. “I got a call. It’s Jerry. A lot of expletives, but he basically told me I was an [expletive] and had the opportunity to be great at something. Just let me have it for like 10, 15 minutes. I thought it was one of the most impactful phone calls that I had really in my life.”
Mazzulla got a second earful from West when he stayed at his house in Los Angeles, which he said was a sign that West cared for his success.
“Stayed at his house once and overslept for UCLA open gym,” Mazzulla said. ”Went down for breakfast and got another [chewing out] because I wasn’t being competitive enough.
“The thing I remember about him is he had a tough way of showing that he loved you, but he was super, super competitive and he really, really cared about you. He showed it in a way that kind of spoke to my language. He’ll be missed, and praying for the family.”
8:20 p.m.: Mavericks fans seem happy that Kristaps Porzingis won’t play in Game 3
When it was announced that Porzingis wouldn’t play in Wednesday’s game, fans at the American Airlines Center loudly cheered the news, according to multiple reporters in Dallas.
Porzingis, who played for the Mavericks from 2019-22, hasn’t played in Dallas since he was traded away.
8:10 p.m.: Celtics roll with the same starting five
Kristaps Porzingis’s status for Game 3 won’t change the starting lineup in any way as he came off the bench in the first two games of the series. The Celtics will continue to start Al Horford with Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks will also have the same starting lineup for Game 3 that they’ve had in the first two games. In case you need a refresher, the Mavericks will start Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, Derrick Jones Jr., P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford.
8 p.m.: Kristaps Porzingis reportedly made push to play
While Porzingis won’t play in Game 3, he didn’t get ruled out without trying. Porzingis wanted to play, but the Celtics medical staff denied him from suiting up on Wednesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
However, there is “real doubt” that Porzingis will be able to play again in the NBA Finals, Wojnarowski reported.
7:40 p.m.: Should Luke Kornet or Xavier Tillman Sr. get Kristpas Porzingis’s minutes?
The Celtics will have at least 20 extra minutes to place in their rotation with Porzingis out for Wednesday’s game. Al Horford, presumably, will get a few extra minutes, but he obviously can’t play all 48.
So, at least one of Kornet or Tillman will likely get their first significant minutes of the NBA Finals in Game 3. Kornet was the Celtics’ No. 3 big for much of the year, but Tillman usurped him in the rotation in the Eastern Conference finals.
In the one game Kornet played against the Mavericks this year, he had two points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. He was a minus-4 though in the Celtics’ nine-point win.
Meanwhile, Tillman averages six points, 4.2 rebounds, and a block per game over the six games he played against the Mavericks this season. Only one of those games came with the Celtics, in which he had six points and a block over 15 minutes in the blowout win on March 1.
Tillman’s ability to guard the perimeter might also give him the edge over Kornet in Game 3 as well. Luka Doncic has hunted the Celtics’ big men throughout the series, making Tillman a stronger option in that regard.
7:20 p.m.: What Joe Mazzulla is showing the Celtics for motivation
The Celtics coach shared that he’s been showing his players UFC fights as a means to get the message clear that they still need to fight until the final whistle.
“The closer you think you are to beating someone, the closer you are to getting your [expletive] kicked,” Mazzulla said.
7:15 p.m.: Joe Mazzulla shares latest on Kristaps Porzingis
Porzingis will remain day-to-day after being ruled out for Game 3, the Celtics coach told reporters. The Celtics previously said Porzingis would be day-to-day as well when they shared his rare injury on Tuesday, listing him as questionable at the time.
Mazzulla shared that Porzingis “did not look right” when he was evaluated earlier Wednesday.
“The medical team and the staff just decided that it wasn’t what was best for him [to play] today,” Mazzulla said.
6:45 p.m.: Kristaps Porzingis ruled out
The Celtics won’t have their star big for Game 3, being ruled out just under two hours before tip-off due to the torn medial retinaculum in his left leg. He missed 10 games prior to his return in Game 1, which was due to a soleus strain in his calf in his right leg.
Porzingis’s return seemed to provide the Celtics a jolt in Game 1, scoring 20 points. He had 12 points in Game 2, but appeared to be in pain when he checked out of the game.
The injury won’t change the Celtics’ starting lineup as they opted to bring Porzingis off the bench in Games 1 and 2. Al Horford has remained their big man, going 11-1 in the 12 games he’s started this offseason.
But Porzingis and Horford are the only two bigs who’ve played meaningful minutes for the Celtics tonight. So, one of Luke Kornet or Xavier Tillman Sr. will likely see increased playing time on Wednesday.
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