DALLAS (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Jaylen Brown added 30, and the Boston Celtics barely withstood a furious comeback attempt by the Dallas Mavericks, coming out on top with a 106-99 victory on Wednesday. This win puts them one victory away from setting a record with an 18th NBA championship.
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Brown finished with eight rebounds and the same number of assists, and the Celtics extended their lead to 3-0 in the Finals.
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Boston on the path to the title with a record-breaking campaign
Boston extended its franchise record by stringing together its tenth playoff victory and placed itself at a 7-0 record as visitors in this postseason. They could win the series and break the tie with the Lakers on the list of most NBA titles in history, if they win on Friday in Dallas.
Likewise, the Celtics improved to 10-1 in these playoffs in games where Kristaps Porzingis is absent. The Latvian was ruled out a couple of hours before the match due to a rare ailment in a tendon in his left calf, suffered in the second game.
Porzingis' status for the rest of the series is unknown. Maybe it doesn't matter that much.
None of the previous 156 teams that have been down 3-0 have managed to win an NBA playoff series.
Dallas lost Luka Doncic at a crucial moment
The Mavs were close to achieving a spectacular comeback in the game, 13 years after a comparable reaction in the NBA Finals led Dallas to its only title in history, against Miami.
Boston was leading 91-70 at the end of a 20-5 run early in the fourth quarter. Dallas responded with a 22-2 burst that brought them within one point with three and a half minutes remaining.
The problem was that Luka Doncic committed his sixth foul with 4:12 minutes remaining. An appeal was unsuccessful, so his expulsion was decreed before Kyrie Irving made a shot that put the Mavericks within one point, in the best game of the series for the former Duke player (35 points).
Tatum and Brown saved the Celtics from that moment on, with some help from Derrick White, who totaled 16 points. The three players combined for the remaining 13 points of Boston, which has not won a championship since 2008.