Celtics take commanding 3-0 lead in NBA Finals despite huge rally from Mavericks

Boston nearly blew a 21-point lead with 11 minutes left, but secured a 106-99 victory and now hold a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals over Dallas.

The Boston Celtics watched a 21-point fourth quarter lead dwindle down to two, but they ultimately beat the Dallas Mavericks, 106-99, to take a 3-0 series lead in the NBA Finals. Boston will have a chance to win the series and set the NBA record with 18 championships on Friday in Dallas.

Locked On Celtics host John Karalis isn’t concerned about the team’s near collapse in the final quarter, which would have been the biggest blown lead in the NBA Finals since 1997.

“I’m not going to get too worked up about it because they found a way to win,” Karalis said postgame. “It doesn’t matter. Anything that happened in this game, it’s not like some big indictment – there are no more indictments. The Celtics are up 3-0 in the NBA Finals.”

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Karalis’ words mirror what Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who had 31 points, said after the game.

“Not really trying to look too much into it,” Tatum said. “The game of basketball is about runs. It’s never going to go like you expected. If you want to be a champion, you have to be resilient in those situations, and we did that tonight.”

Boston won this game without Kristaps Porzingis, whose status going forward remains in doubt. However, no team has come back from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs, and Boston may not even return home before securing trophy No. 18.

“It’s not over yet,” Karalis offered as a reminder. “They still have one game to go, and the Celtics need to approach it that way.”

Game Four will be Friday in Dallas, with game five slated for Monday in Boston and game six Thursday back in Dallas – if either are necessary.

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