The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 in the third NBA Finals and are just one victory away from the championship. Dallas saw a fluctuating match.
The most dramatic moment of the third NBA Finals was seen a good four minutes before the end of the final quarter. Dallas superstar Luka Doncic picked up his sixth foul after fouling Boston Jaylen Brown.
That’s how Doncic’s foul count was filled and he flew out of the match. Boston led at that time by three points and the team did not let the game slip away after that, marching to victory with a score of 106–99.
Boston’s superstar duo Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum played a strong match. Brown scored 30 points and Tatum 31. The duo shone especially in the third quarter, which Boston won 35–19. Brown ended up scoring 24 points in the second half.
The two had an intense moment on the field after the match.
– We were emotional, excited and tired from the match. I told him I was proud of him and he said the same to me. We talked that we have to keep fighting, we can’t relax, Tatum described the conversation between the two at the press conference.
Dallas’ best scorer was the back who played his best game in the series Kyrie Irving. He scored 35 points. In the previous two games, Irving had struggled with Boston’s aggressive defense, scoring a total of just 28 points.
Doncic accompanied Irving with 27 points, despite hitting just one of his seven three-pointers.
The Slovenian star made mistakes to himself
The match progressed evenly until the halftime break. Dallas led by a point at halftime. In the third period, the Celtics seemed to be running away, and the away team’s lead was at its largest at the beginning of the fourth period, when the difference was 21 points.
However, Dallas fought back into the game and narrowed the gap to just one point in less than eight minutes. The team was able to freeze Boston’s offense and slow down the Celtics’ passing game. Boston also threw at a high percentage during its weak stretch.
Boston has repeatedly chased Doncic in its attacks during the finals series and tried to tire out the star guard. At the same time, they have gotten good scoring opportunities, as Doncic is the weakest defender in Dallas’ regular lineup.
The Celtics also did the same in the third game. They exploited Doncic’s weak defense mercilessly.
– His defense is unforgivable. He is a hole in the defense and the Celtics lead the series because they have attacked him, the veteran NBA reporter of the American channel ESPN Brian Windhorst roared after the match.
Doncic can blame himself for filling the error account in the third match. For example, early in the third period, he picked up his fourth foul when he fouled Boston under the opponent’s basket Derrick White.
Frustrated, Doncic slapped the back man’s hands when Boston was about to open its attack. The Slovenian got his sixth foul after picking up an attacker’s foul on Brown, who strayed with the ball towards the center of the field.
– I wouldn’t like to say anything. Sixth mistake in the finals when I’m just like this. Should be able to do better, Doncic referred to the refereeing at the press conference and pretended to just stand still.
– We had a chance to win. I wished I had been on the field, he regretted the decisive moments.
Behind Doncic and Irving, Dallas’ scoring was sluggish, just like in the previous finals. PJ Washington scored 13 points and an assist Derek Lively II 11, but no one else reached even seven points.
The opening matches of the finals have shown that Dallas’ role players must be able to do better if the team wants to beat rock-hard Boston even once. Celtis, who played strongly throughout the season, have now won 10 matches in a row.