Boston Celtics defeated Dallas Mavericks 106-99 on Wednesday night to grab a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. They then withstood a dramatic comeback by Dallas to go within one win of a record 18th championship. In addition to Jason Tatum's 31 points, Jaylen Brown scored 30 points.
Brown ended with eight rebounds and eight assists to help Boston Celtics extend their club record. The team has won 10 straight postseason games and is 7-0 on the road this season. They can win the series and break a tie with the Lakers for the most NBA titles if they win in Dallas on Friday.
Boston also advanced to 10-1 in the playoffs without Kristaps Porzingis, who was declared out about two hours before the game due to a rare tendon damage to his lower left leg sustained in Game 2.
No NBA team has overcome 3-0 deficit
Porzingis' status for the rest of the series is unclear, but it may not matter. None of the previous 156 teams who faced a 3-0 disadvantage recovered to win an NBA playoff series. Boston led 91-70 at the end of a 20-5 run early in the fourth quarter, but Dallas responded with a 22-2 run to pull within a point with 3 1/2 minutes left.
The problem was that Luka Doncic picked up his sixth foul with 4:12 left when a challenge failed before Kyrie Irving, who scored 35 points, nailed a jumper to get Dallas within one. The defense controlled the second quarter, with Boston leading 5-2 almost six minutes in until Irving and Tatum swapped three-pointers to spark a scoring surge.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum and Brown delivered, while Derrick White chipped in with 16 points. The Celtics are now only one win away from their first championship since 2008 and only their second since 1986 after the three combined for the last 13 points scored by Boston. A 3-0 deficit has never been overcome by an NBA team. On Friday, Game 4 will be played in Dallas.
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