The Celtics win 106-99 and take the series to 3-0: one victory missing from their 18th triumph
The NBA Finals they reach a turning point: in game 3 a Dallas, Boston wins 106-99 on Mavericks, taking the series to 3-0. After a balanced first half (51-50 for the hosts at half-time), a super third period decides 35-19 in favor of the team Mazzulla: 31 points for Tatum and 30 per Brown35 aren’t enough Irving. THE Celtics they are one victory away from the 18th title in their history.
After winning the two games at the TD Garden, Boston also takes on the first challenge in Dallas and brings the NBA Finals series to 3-0: it ends 106-99 in favor of the Celtics, who are now very close to their 18th title. In Texas, at least in the first half, a very balanced match takes place, in which the fight is point for point and, not surprisingly, the first 12 minutes end at 31-30 in favor of the Mavericks, who then go to half-time long with the minimum advantage: 51-50. But it is precisely in the second half that everything changes: Boston scores an incredible 35-19 run and, with one period to go, is ahead 85-70. The last quarter of 29-21 was useless for the hosts, who were unable to close the gap either in the match or in the series.
And Boston does all this practically without a bench: only 8 players play with just 12 points (3 from Tillman, 9 from Hauser) coming from the substitutes but with 31 from Jayson Tatum, who also scores 6 rebounds, and 30 from Jaylen Brown, who adds 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Dallas, however, does not go beyond Kyrie Irving’s 35 and Luka Doncic’s 27, with Washington finishing at 13 and Lively scoring 11. In game 4, again in Dallas, the Mavericks will have to avoid closing the Finals without victories. The outcome, however, now seems obvious: in the history of the NBA, no team has ever managed to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a series. And Boston is just one victory away from an eighteenth title, a Ring that has been missing since 2007/2008.
