DALLAS — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 61 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a gritty 106-99 Game Three win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
Their effort was barely enough to thwart the stubborn Mavericks who cut a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to just 90-93 with 5:42 left in to play.
Despite the scare, the Celtics now stand on the threshold of an 18th championship, the most in the NBA and one over bitter rivals the Los Angeles Lakers.
Although the All-Star duo of Tatum and Brown did most of the heavy lifting, it was a complete team effort for the Celtics, whose vaunted defense held Dallas to just 44.2 percent from the field (38-of-86) and 36 percent from three (9-of-25).
With 7-foot-2 Kristaps Porzingis ruled out prior to Game 3 due to a rare leg injury, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday pooled together 26 points and 9 assists with Holiday putting relentless pressure on Luka Doncic on defense.
Veteran Al Horford also shined with 8 points and 5 rebounds while Sam Hauser accounted for 9 off the bench as the Celtics connected on 38 of 82 shots including 17 of 46 from 3-point distance.
“If you want to be a champion, you have to be resilient in those situations,” Tatum told reporters about the Celtics’ near collapse in the fourth quarter after building what appeared to be a comfortable lead.
Luka Doncic paced Dallas with 27 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds but he coughed up three turnovers and fouled out in the final 4:12 of play.
“Six fouls in the NBA Finals. Come on, man,” he said at his post-game press conference.
After a quiet Games 1 and 2 performance, Kyrie Irving exploded for 35 points. PJ Washington added 15 while Dereck Lively had 11.
It wasn’t enough as the Mavericks are on the precipice of being swept.
“We just got to make history,” Lively said.
