CNN
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The Boston Celtics are now just one win away from completing one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history.
After finishing the regular season with comfortably the best record at 64-18, Boston have gone on a 15-2 run in the postseason and are now on a 10-game winning streak.
The team is also a perfect 7-0 on the road in these playoffs and boast an apparently insurmountable 3-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. No team in playoff history (0-156) has come back from 3-0 down.
Franchise star Jayson Tatum bounced back from poor performances in Games 1 and 2 with 30 points, six rebounds and five assists in Game 3, while running mate Jaylen Brown had 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Jrue Holiday has been arguably the Celtics’ best player in the Finals, in particular for his defensive contributions and the way he’s guarded Kyrie Irving. His 26 points and 11 rebounds in Game 2 highlight just how much he can bring on the offensive end if either Tatum or Brown struggle again in Game 4.
“Jrue is literally everywhere,” guard Derrick White said of Holiday after Game 3. “It’s unreal. I don’t know how he does it.
“I try to learn as much as I can from him and he’s – just when you think you got an opening – unreal.”
Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports/Reuters
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić reacts on the bench during the fourth quarter during Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics at American Airlines Center.
The biggest talking point for Dallas in these Finals has been Luka Dončić’s defense – or, more specifically, his lack of it.
The Slovenian has allowed players to get past him at will and looks lost in defensive schemes, something the Celtics have relentlessly exploited all series – and will likely do so again in Game 4.
Dončić has remained brilliant on the offensive end in the Finals, but his defensive frailties led to him fouling out of Game 3 with more than four minutes remaining, at a time when Dallas had fought its way back into the contest.
Dallas head coach Jason Kidd has so far been unable to find a way the stop the Celtics onslaught orchestrated by Joe Mazzulla. Any successful adjustments Kidd finds for Game 4 will be too little, too late.
After going 0-8 from three in Games 1 and 2, Irving bounced by with 35 points in Game 3 and hitting four of his six three-point attempts. The Mavericks need a big night from both Irving and Dončić if the team has any hope of taking this series back to Boston for a Game 5.
When asked what his message would be to Dončić after Game 3, Irving said, per ESPN: “You just got to let it breathe a little bit. Let the human emotions come out. Just give him a hug.
“That’s it, man. It’s easy to point the finger at just him, say: ‘You could be better.’ That’s easy to say. I think he knows that. But, yeah, it’s reiterating that I have his back, we all have his back.”
A bullish Dončić added: “It’s not over until it’s over. We just got to believe.”
