The Boston Celtics had a little scare in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. After a Derrick White three-pointer put Boston up 91-70 with 11:07 remaining in the fourth quarter the Dallas Mavericks went on a 22-2 run to make it a one-point game with 3:37 left in regulation. It must have felt like watching a train crash in slow motion for everyone in Boston, but according to White, there's one person might have enjoyed it: head coach Joe Mazzulla.
White, who had 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots, talked to the press after the game and was asked about how Mazzulla acted down the stretch as the lead disappeared. As Mazzulla said before the game, “The closer you think you are to beating someone, the closer you are to getting your ass kicked." White confirmed that Mazzulla probably enjoyed it because it would allow him to keep telling the team that they have to stay focused.
"He's a sicko, so probably." 😅 🤣
Derrick White on whether or not Joe Mazzulla enjoyed the chance to rally back after a blown lead pic.twitter.com/7yBEcRdvDT
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024
"Yeah, Joe is consistent the whole time," said White. " And I mean, he's probably so happy that it happened like that so he can just continue to tell us that. He just stays consistent. He just makes the right calls and we trust him completely. Yeah. Seemed pretty true today."
Asked a followup about whether Mazzulla was really enjoying it White said, "He's a sicko, so probably."
The ultimate compliment for any coach. With a 3-0 lead in the Finals, Mazzulla currently has a 121-43 record in the regular season and won 26 of the first 37 postseason games he's coached. Whatever he's saying or doing, it seems to be working. No matter how sick in the head he may seem.
The Boston Celtics are a win away from an 18th NBA title and can do it on the road in Dallas in Game 4 on Friday night.
The Celtics used a second-half surge to get past the Mavericks in Game 3 and will look to maintain its defensive form en route to a title-winning Game 4 on Friday night. While Kyrie Irving got on track in Game 3, Dallas couldn’t get a top effort from star Luka Doncic, who fouled out for the first time in his postseason career in the loss.
Despite leading 3-0, Boston is a small underdog on the road. Will Dallas extend the series back to Boston, or is this series a wrap?
Jayson Tatum: Tatum isn’t scoring all that efficiently, shooting about 36% from the field, but has been able to do it all by averaging nearly nine rebounds and seven assists to go with 21 points per game. He has been invaluable on defense, playing the Mavericks' lob threats at centers and switching on the likes of Doncic.
Can he put together one more comprehensive effort to lock in a title?
Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic: Doncic played his worst game of the series in Game 3, fouling out for the first time in his postseason career, shooting only 40% from the field with 27 points and six rebounds, each series lows, and six assists. Can Doncic lock in to start a historic comeback?
The Celtics were the better team heading into the series, and have justified it through three games, winning three games in different ways, and effectively ending the series. No team has come back from down 3-0 and I’m not counting on Dallas to be the first.
Boston has won with a barrage of three-point makes (Game 1), an off-shooting night (Game 2), and a come-from-behind effort in which the team pulled away late (Game 3).
The Celtics offense hasn’t been humming for the entirety of the series, but the defense has been at its best from the opening tip.
While Doncic has been able to score at times, and Irving found his footing in Game 3, the Boston defense has made most shots difficult for the two offensive-minded guards and shut off the water for everybody else on the Mavs.
Dallas role players are shooting 26% from three on an average of about 12 threes per game. The Celtics have dared the Mavericks to try and win two-on-five on offense and it hasn’t worked.
I ultimately think there are too many answers on the Boston side for this team that it is the preferred side. The Mavericks don’t have a way to generate clean looks for the likes of Doncic and Irving that a win would result from a cold shooting night from the Celtics.
However, Boston is only shooting 33.9% from three-point range this series while getting plenty of clean looks. The Celtics are winning while shooting more than two percent worse from distance in the regular season.
Boston is the clear side, I’ll bet on a sweep.
PICK: Celtics ML (-104)
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The Boston Celtics are on the verge of winning its 18th NBA Championship in franchise history, and Finals MVP is starting to take shape.
It appears to be a two-man race for Finals MVP, and through three games, Jaylen Brown appears to be ahead, fresh off an outstanding 30 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists output in Game 3, including a clutch jump shot that helped stymie a late Mavericks run.
Brown is now the heavy favorite to win Finals MVP, with his teammate Jayson Tatum the only other one within striking distance.
Brown was the exclamation point on the Celtics second-half surge past the Mavericks, sparked by a 35-19 third quarter. Brown scored 15 points in the third quarter and 24 in the entire second half to finish with a healthy stat line.
He is averaging 24 points, six rebounds, and five assists while shooting 55% from the field in the NBA Finals, and also had the game-sealing jumper.
Tatum is the only other player in the mix, fresh off his best scoring performance of the series, putting in 31 points with six rebounds and five assists, but did shoot 11-for-26 as he continues to struggle with his shot. Tatum has been stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, but is shooting below 36% from the field.
Brown, who won Eastern Conference Finals MVP, looks primed to take home Finals MVP with Tatum’s inability to score efficiently, and with the Celtics well on its way to banner No. 18.
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When Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said last week that Jaylen Brown was the Boston Celtics’ “best player,” it was widely believed that Kidd was playing mind games (an allegation Kidd denied) rather than expressing an earnest opinion about Boston’s hierarchy. But he may have been right.
Kidd’s initial assertion seemed outlandish because Jayson Tatum undoubtedly has a better résumé than Brown. (Tatum was named First-Team All-NBA in each of the past three seasons, while Brown has just one Second-Team selection to his name.) Brown is a star, but Tatum is a superstar. In the Finals, though, it’s Brown who has shone brightest.
Tatum struggled offensively in the first two games of the series, averaging 17 points per game on 31.6% shooting (although he contributed in other ways). And while Tatum was better in Game 3 (31 points on 11-of-26 shooting), he was quiet again in the fourth quarter as the Mavs mounted a ferocious comeback, making just one of his five field-goal attempts.
That’s when Brown stepped up.
The fourth quarter very nearly turned into a nightmare for the Celtics. Boston was able to stretch its lead to 21 points in the opening minutes but saw that lead evaporate as the Mavs reeled off a 22–2 run to cut the deficit to one. The only Boston basket scored during Dallas’s run—which lasted more than seven minutes—was by Brown. He played a huge role in helping stop the skid, scoring on a putback layup with 3:08 to play that made it 95–92 in favor of the Celtics and hitting a contested jumper with 1:01 to play that made it 102–98. He scored nine of Boston’s 21 points in the final quarter as the Celtics held on to win, 106–99.
“I mean, how can I explain Jaylen?” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “The guy just has a growth mindset. He just wants to get better. He yearns to get better. He’s not afraid to face his weaknesses on the court. So when you have that type of mindset, you’re just going to be able to take on every situation that the game brings you. He puts himself in every single situation that he sees in a game. He uses six, seven, eight coaches a day, and every situation on both ends of the floor, he puts himself in that.
“And that’s how you have to grow, is to become vulnerable and on the things that make you uncomfortable, and he does that.”
Brown’s biggest play of the night, though, may have been the foul he drew on Luka Doncic with 4:12 to play. Brown attacked Doncic in transition and gave Doncic no choice but to commit a foul, causing him to foul out. Doncic’s absence changed the entire shape of the game. Once Doncic was forced to leave the floor, Dallas’s comeback came to a screeching halt. Kyrie Irving did his best to carry the Mavs, but Doncic’s absence allowed Boston's defense to zero in on Irving.
Doncic’s poor performance was the other main takeaway from Game 3. He scored 27 points, but his uninspired defense left him vulnerable to foul calls, eventually leading to his disqualification from the game. His constant complaints to the referees probably didn’t help flip any borderline calls in his favor, either.
Doncic has never been a great defender but that’s been especially problematic against a Boston team whose scoring depth makes hiding Doncic on defense impossible. And he’s clearly struggling with injuries that hinder his mobility, making him even more of a defensive liability. Doncic certainly looks like he could use a rest, and now that the Mavs have fallen behind 3–0 in the series, it appears he’ll be getting one very soon.
McIlroy is looking for his first major victory in a decade. / Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports
… things I saw last night:
5. The couple that got married in the stands during a Giants game. 4. Giancarlo Stanton’s 449-foot shot for his 17th home run of the season. Stanton, Juan Soto (17) and Aaron Judge (25) have combined for 59 homers this season, which is more than five teams have on the year. 3. Christian Pulisic’s free-kick goal vs. Brazil. 2. Angel Reese’s big game against the league-leading Sun. She had a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds as she notched her fourth straight double double. 1. Jaylen Brown’s ferocious dunk at the end of the third quarter.
The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 on Wednesday at American Airlines Center to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. The Mavericks made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, but fell short after star Luka Doncic fouled out on a couple questionable calls that he really did not agree with.
The home crowd was understandably dead as the Celtics pulled away in the third quarter, which is when the Mavericks X account tweeted one of the saddest things you'll ever see. The X equivalent of "please clap."
This near the end of the third as the Celtics lead ballooned and Jaylen Brown prepared to put a stamp on a 35-19 quarter with a thunderous dunk that took them to the fourth with a 15-point lead. Meanwhile, back on the Internet, the team's post was getting roasted.
The funny thing is, it must have worked. During the break between quarters and the Celtics extending their lead to 21 fans must have had time to check their phones and get the message. What else could explain the team's 22-2 run?
Sure, they ultimately came up short, but what a social media effort. If there's ever been a case for posting through it, this is it.
Following the Boston Celtics’ 106-99 Game 3 win over the Dallas Mavericks to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the NBA Finals, the Celtics media thought they would have a little fun with Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
NBA fans and analysts alike were well-aware of Doncic’s foul-baiting antics and incessant complaints throughout the game, and one Celtics media member decided enough was enough.
Doncic finished with 27 points on 11-of-27 shooting, but he fouled out with roughly four minutes left in the fourth quarter. NBC Sports Boston took the latter of those statistics and turned it into a savage graphic on X (formerly known as Twitter) paired with a screenshot of Doncic at the postgame presser.
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024
Doncic appeared to tut at the officiating after the game, as his fifth and sixth fouls were arguably very close calls. One game away from suffering a Finals sweep, the Mavericks will host the Celtics for Game 4 on Friday night.
Early in the fourth quarter it looked like Boston was going to cruise to a 3–0 series lead. A Derrick White three staked the Celtics to a 21-point lead with 11 minutes to play. The three-point line was hot and the Mavericks looked finished. Then P.J. Washington hit a three. Then Luka Doncic hit a layup. Then Dereck Lively II tipped in a miss. A 12–0 run cut the lead to nine with eight minutes to play. A 20–2 run made it a one-possession game with six minutes to play.
Doncic was hot. Kyrie Irving was rolling. Dallas had life.
With 4:38 to play, Doncic picked up his fifth personal foul. Bad. Fewer than 30 seconds later, he picked up his sixth. Worse. Dallas, faced with trying to complete the comeback with its All-NBA guard on the bench, crumbled. An Irving jumper briefly cut the lead to one but Boston quickly pushed it back up to three, then six, then eight. And that was your ball game.
“We had a good chance,” Doncic said. “We were close. Just didn’t get it. I wish I was out there.”
Said Jayson Tatum, “The game of basketball is about runs, and this is at the highest level. You know, it’s the best team in the West at this point. They are going to make shots. They are going to go on a run, and it’s just all about how do you respond.”
When Dallas surged to an early 13-point first-quarter lead, there was Tatum, scoring 20 of his 31 points in the first half to keep the game close. When Boston needed buckets down the stretch, there was Jaylen Brown, who scored 24 of his 30 in the second half, including nine in the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t a flawless game. Tatum struggled with his shot, finishing 11-for-26. Brown was 2-for-9 from three-point range. But they refused to get discouraged. It was Tatum’s driving dunk in traffic that pushed the Celtics’ lead to six late in the fourth quarter. It was Brown’s 21-footer that put the game away. For just the second time in Celtics history, two players scored at least 30 points in a Finals game. And when the final buzzer sounded, the two stars embraced near center court.
“Just you know showing the emotions of the game,” Tatum said. “Two guys that were excited, tired, that, you know, after the game. We’re not necessarily saying like, ‘One more,’ or anything like that. We are just saying, ‘However long it takes.’ Nobody is relaxed. Nobody is satisfied. Just at that moment, you know, just told him I was proud of him and he said the same thing. That we’ve got to keep fighting. We can’t relax.”
Role players have become the story of this series. For Boston, the first two games were dominated by Kristaps Porzingis, who returned from a 38-day absence to help power Boston to a 2–0 series lead. In Game 3, with Porzinigis out, it was White (16 points) and Sam Hauser (nine) making shots. Al Horford stretching out for 37 minutes. Xavier Tillman, playing his first minutes of this series, finishing a +9 in 11 minutes.
“I just think that top to bottom, we trust everybody, and we just compete at a high level,” White said. “Obviously, they are great players, and it’s a challenge but [it’s] just consistently being in the right position and just competing.”
Tillman came up big in Game 3, playing his first minutes of the Finals. / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
On Dallas’s side, it was more of the same. Washington chipped in nine points during Dallas’s fourth-quarter comeback but finished with 12 overall. Derrick Jones Jr. was a non-factor. Maxi Kleber, too. Jason Kidd dusted off Tim Hardaway Jr. for 20 minutes. Hardaway finished 0-for-5. In the first half, Kidd’s rotation went 11 deep.
“We were trying to find someone to come off the bench and give us a spark,” Kidd said. “It doesn’t always have to be someone making a shot. I thought the guys that played tonight helped us get the lead or get back into the game.
“When you look at some of the guys who played, we got good looks, some of them made them, some of them didn’t. I thought the group that played, once that third quarter got away from us, it just showed the group kept playing.”
In the conference playoffs, Luke Kornet gobbled up the bulk of the non-Porzingis minutes. In Game 3, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla went with Tillman, in part because of the ex-Memphis Grizzlies forward’s experience against the Mavericks. Tillman responded by knocking down a corner three in the third quarter and swatting away two shots.
“Big shout out to X,” White said. “To not be in the rotation but to stay locked in and he gives us big-time minutes. He just does a little bit of everything out there. Then he guarded his ass off and hit a big shot and rebounds, and he just did a little bit of everything for us. Credit to him. Great, great teammate, great guy, and he was big for us.”
The statistics say no. Of the 156 teams that have trailed 3–0 in an NBA playoff series, zero have come back to win it. The more pressing concern is if Dallas can avoid a sweep. Doncic struck an optimistic tone at his postgame news conference. “Being down 21 in the third game and then coming back was a really positive thing for us,” he said. And the Mavs did get a breakout game from Irving (35 points). But as talented as Doncic and Irving are, they are not getting enough help. And a Celtics team that nearly completed a 3–0 comeback last season isn’t sounding like one ready to let this one slip away.
“You have to expect the expected,” Mazzulla said. “You’ve got to understand we are just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable than they are. And we have to play that way. So as long as we have that mindset, and when you understand that you’re vulnerable and your back’s against the wall, you’ve got to fight. And so that’s the mindset that we have to have.”
Luka Doncic fouled out in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night as the Boston Celtics defeated his Dallas Mavericks 106-99 at American Airlines Center.
Doncic finished with 27 points on 27 shots before he headed to the bench to watch his team's comeback fall short. His fifth and six fouls came in the fourth quarter on close calls that no Mavericks fan would ever agree with.
After the game. Doncic was asked about the whistles that went against him in the fourth. His response likely doesn't warrant a fine from the league, but reading between the lines, it doesn't seem like he agreed with the calls.
"I mean, I don't know," Doncic said. "We couldn't play physical so ... I don't know. I don't want to say nothing, but you know, six fouls in the NBA Finals? When I'm basically I'm like this. C'mon, man. [Be] better than that."
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 13, 2024
While Mavs fans will certainly disagree with the calls that went against Doncic, everyone can agree that the officials were pretty bad in the fourth quarter. It seemed like everything was allowed early in the game, but by the end the only time officials didn't blow the whistle was when Derrick White grabbed Tim Hardaway Jr. right in front of a referee on purpose and pointed at the referee to confirm he was trying to foul and there was no call.
You can’t tell me changes don’t need to be made to officiating. Derrick white clearly intentionally fouled Hardaway looked at the ref, says foul, ref still doesn’t make the call. Refs have been horrible throughout all of the season but this is just embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/DdeKq8GCWd
The Boston Celtics won a roller-coaster of a game Wednesday night to take a 3–0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. Jaylen Brown scored 30 points on 22 shots to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists, while Jayson Tatum scored 31 on 26 shots with six rebounds and five assists.
The Celtics dominated the third quarter with great ball movement, which Tatum pointed out on the bench during a timeout. Luckily, ESPN and ABC had the cameras rolling to hear the Celtics star tell everyone they shouldn't settle for step-back three-pointers, which is basically his favorite thing in the world.
“Don’t settle for the step back 3 unless it’s late in the shot clock, that goes for all of us, including myself.”
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (IG:twdbk3) (@sluggahjells) June 13, 2024
"We can get shots," Tatum said, "but we can get better shots. Don't settle for the step-back three unless it's late shot clock. That goes for all of us. Myself. Every time we drive we get a wide open three."
He was right. About the drive and kick, at least. He was certainly not right about taking his own advice as he repeatedly took three-pointers in isolation, which Doris Burke pointed out on the broadcast saying that if she were a teammate she would have given him the side-eye when he said that.
Tatum finished the game 4-of-13 from behind the arc. He is now 8-of-27 from three during the Finals.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals is crucial for the Dallas Mavericks, as a loss would all be seal their fate against the Boston Celtics in this series.
Trailing 2-0, Dallas is looking to avoid the dreaded 3-0 series deficit -- something no team has ever come back from in a seven-game series in the history of the league.
On the bright side for Dallas, oddsmakers have favored Luka Doncic and company at home in Game 3.
The spread in Game 3 has moved since Kristaps Porzingis was diagnosed with a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon on Tuesday.
Porzingis is officially questionable for Game 3, and oddsmakers have moved Dallas from -2 to -2.5 in this game since the Porzingis injury was announced.
Boston has fared well without Porzingis this postseason, but he clearly makes the Celtics a better team, especially after dropping 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field in Game 1.
Can Dallas pick up a win at home to keep its chances to win the Finals alive?
Boston Celtics on the Road
Boston has dominated on the road in the playoffs, going 6-0 straight up against the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. Can it stay perfect against the Mavericks?
The C's are 22-22-3 against the spread on the road in the 2023-24 season overall, so their playoff performance has been even better.
Boston Celtics as Underdogs
This is just the fourth time this season that the Celtics are underdogs, and it's the first time in five months that they have been in this spot.
Boston is 1-2 against the spread as an underdog in the 2023-24 season. All of those games have come on the road.
Dallas Mavericks at Home
So far this season, Dallas is 25-24 against the spread at home, but that number is slightly better as a home favorite.
The Mavs are 19-17 against the spread as home favorites, although they have lost games at home in every series so far this postseason.
Teams Down 0-2 in Game 3
Dallas is down 0-2 in this series, but there is an interesting trend dating back to 2005 for these teams entering Game 3.
NBA teams down 0-2 at home since 2005:
• 91-47-1 first half ATS • 66-70-3 full game ATS
The first half trend has been even lately though, going just 13-14-1 1H ATS since 2020-21 (3-4 this year) pic.twitter.com/ecnq7LaJoo
However, the Celtics are the best team in the NBA against the spread in the first half this season, so bettors may want to be careful about having to lay points with Dallas, who is a slight favorite, in Game 3.
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