Celtics back Mavericks into an 0-3 hole with dominant third quarter ...

Boston overwhelmed Dallas in the third quarter and held on for dear life in the fourth - weathering a 22-2 run by the Mavericks - to win game 3 106-99. The Celtics did it with more accurate outside shooting (17 for 46 vs. 9 for 25) and receiving superstar production from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to outshine their Mavericks counterparts when it counted. Despite yet another great performance in defeat, Luka Doncic suffered the ignominy of fouling out of the game in the deciding fourth period.

Brown (30 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists), the presumptive leading candidate for Finals MVP led the way for Boston tonight, while Tatum (31 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists) had his finest game so far in this series. Derrick White (16 points, 4 assists, and 2 blocks) hit a crucial jumper in the waning minutes to bolster the Celtics’ advantage and give the team enough cushion to finish off the game.

Kyrie Irving (35 points and 3 rebounds) made his biggest impact in the series by carrying the Mavericks over much of a sloppy second period, in support of Doncic (27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 fouls). Despite their stars put up 37 of the team’s 51 first half points, Dallas still received only two double-digit scorers from their bigs - Dereck Lively (11 points and 13 rebounds) and PJ Washington (13 points and 8 rebounds) in the dispiriting loss.

Dallas rocketed out of the gate with hot shooting from its two stars to move out ahead by as much as ten. The Celtics started out missing seven of their first nine. Tatum’s three stopped the onslaught of Dallas buckets, but Irving’s pull-up three pushed their lead out to 13. Xavier Tillman’s free throws started a Boston run that shaved the lead to two, as Tatum looked for his own offense. After a first quarter that saw 20+ points from Doncic and Irving, Dallas only clung to a one-point lead.

Irving’s lefty layup ended a three minute scoring drought for Dallas at the start of the second period. The teams combined to put up seven points in five minutes of action, but the Celtics grabbed a hold of the lead in that time. At one point late in the half, Tatum had 18 of the team’s 40 points. Irving single-handedly kept his team in the game on what Mike Breen referred to as “Kyrie Chaos.’ The teams traded baskets over the remainder of the stanza, and despite the chaotic nature of the period, Dallas again went into the half up one.

Both teams came out of the half white hot, which resulted in a handful of lead changes. Boston, starting hotter with a 7-for-7 flourish, jumped ahead by five. Dallas could not match the Celtics’ point barrage. Boston closed the quarter on the types of shots that championship-winning teams confidently hit: 1) A Xavier Tillman corner three (which turned the Celtics bench into the 2003 Spurs crew that cheered on Steve Kerr in the WCF) put Boston up 78-65 late in the stanza, 2) a White three that was reminiscent of the one Manu Ginobili hit to end the first quarter of 2014 Finals Game 3 followed by 3) a soaring emphathic slam from Brown down the lane.

Observations

I think the series’ summary montage should show the whiny face of Doncic juxtaposted with the composed-looks that Tatum and Brown wore throughout the three victories. This may be Dallas’ best shot at a title in the Wemby era. The Ringer’s Danny Chau likened these Mavericks to the 2018 Houston Rockets that just fell short (well, they missed 27 straight three attempts) of making the finals. They feel more like the 2016 Spurs in terms of their offensive brilliance and falllng short with their collection of big men to the more talented Boston squad. Without a good look at the shooting numbers across titleists, the Celtics may end up having the most ‘meh’ shooting performance of any champion in recent history. On Gafford’s block of Tatum in the first quarter, Doncic, the nearest Maverick, may have moved only a foot towards the blocked ball. Instead of playing Luke Kornet, Boston went small early on with Tillman and Sam Hauser, which paid off as Hauser had a trio first half triples. The Celtics have gotten so many open or partially contested corner threes this series. If anyone has had Porzingis’ injury, please share what that was like in the comments. Boston’s Sequence of the Game: As part of a blazing 21-10 start in the third, White swatted away a Tim Hardaway, Jr. attempt in transition (which Doris Burke noted ‘like a raptor’_ which led to a Tatum slam at the other end. Irving found a clean driving lane for the opening bucket, which started just about the most perfect two minutes of Mavericks ball this series, followed by a Doncic three, a steal and transition lay-up by Derrick Jones, Jr., and a banker by Doncic. Doncic and Irving got to their third field goals each rather easily without Porzingis, and Lively’s and-1 made it 22-9. Tatum’s second three and Hauser’s corner three were part of a 11-0 run for the Celtics. Tatum’s transition dunk closed Boston to 30-31 at the end of one. The teams put up a scoreless two minutes at the start of the second before Al Horford spoonfed a cutting Brown for a layup - giving Boston its first lead. An Irving layup was Dallas’ only scoring for a 40+% of the frame. Irving’s wing three put the Mavericks back up for but a moment. Tatum had a scoring flurry to boost Boston back on top, which was quickly answered by an Irving stepback three. Hauser hit his third three to help the Celtics keep pace. Washington’s free throw put Boston down again by one at the half. White and Jrue Holiday ran a nice pick-and-roll coming out of the break to briefly put the Celtics up one. Holiday’s three and steal kickstarted the inevitable Celtics push. Brown’s corner three increased the Mavericks’ deficit to eight. Once the Mavericks’ offense stalled out midway through the frame, Boston spliced together a superb closing run. By the time the damage was done, Tatum and Browns outscored the Mavericks 22-19, and the Celtics went to the fourth up 85-70- Just as I was about to type “Back-to-back threes from Brown and White essentially deflated any hope for a comeback,” Dallas mounted its first real sustained run of well-played basketball for the series and edged within one of the stunned visitors. The first part of the 22-2 run consisted of a Washington three, Doncic turnaround, Lively tip-in, Josh Green’s three, Washington freebies - in two minutes. Doncic and Irving finally found the kind of teammate support they’ve been craving all series long. Brown’s turnaround briefly stopped the bleeding, as the Mavericks piled on another ten straight over the next 4+ minutes to make it perilously 93-92 on Irving’s pull-up. However, Brown drew two controversial blocking fouls within a minute on Doncic to foul him out. Brown’s tip-in and White’s three nudged the Celtics’ lead back out to six. After Irving’s free throws made it 98-94, Tatum threw a power dunk down. Lively’s two buckets dragged Dallas back to within two. Brown’s dagger stepback and Irving’s miss squashed any remaining Mavericks hopes to complete the comeback.

Game 4 of the Finals is back in Dallas on Friday night at 7:30 PM CDT.