No Kristaps Porzingis, no problem for the Boston Celtics. Jayson Tatum and co. went straight into American Airlines Center and took Game 3 from the Dallas Mavericks, now they find themselves on the verge of winning their first title since 2008. Tatum led the scoring with 31, but he also got help from Jaylen Brown who put up 30 and played stellar defense for stretches on both Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. Boston made a run in the 3rd quarter, growing their lead to as many as 21 points, the Mavericks just couldn’t get over the hump. Whether or not Porzingis plays in Game 4 won’t make much of a difference in my opinion, Boston is on a mission to close this thing and Wednesday’s win was their 10th straight postseason victory. They are yet to lose a road game this postseason, everything appears to be going in the direction of them finishing the job on Friday night.
Luka Doncic didn’t do his team any favors by fouling out with about 4 mins left, which put a huge dent in their hopes of overcoming the Cs late in the game. Kyrie Irving did his best playing 45 minutes and leading the scoring with 35, but he himself can only do so much against a star studded opponent like the Celtics are. Doncic didn’t have the most efficient games, taking 27 shots to get to his 27 points, he will have to play a lot smarter on Friday if his team wants to avoid the sweep. A lot of great players struggled in their first ever Finals appearance, so the way this series has been going shouldn’t discourage Mavericks fans in the coming years. You have to go through the trials and tribulations to get to the mountain top. It took Dirk Nowitzki 13 seasons to get there, Doncic is just barely scratching his prime as a basketball player.
