The Boston Celtics are on the verge of winning the 2024 championship. They improved to 6-0 in clutch playoff situations by holding off the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3
Any questions surrounding the Boston Celtics’ ability to seal the deal should be eradicated.
For a team often mislabeled as one that crumbles in the clutch, Boston poetically put a stamp on Wednesday’s win by proving the opposite.
In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, they put those clutch demons to rest in the fourth quarter and walked the Mavericks to the brink of elimination.
After imposing their will and taking a 21-point lead with 11:07 left in the game, the Celtics got a bit too comfortable. They started settling for contested jumpers and dribbling into traffic, which led to live-ball turnovers and a stagnant offense. They scored just two points in eight minutes, bringing back all of the memories from last year’s droughts and meltdowns in the East Finals.
Dallas stormed back with a 22-2 run, trimming the deficit to one with roughly three and a half minutes remaining.
It was up to Boston to piece together one last surge. Given how devastating and, frankly, embarrassing it would’ve been to choke away Game 3, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that fourth quarter could’ve swung the Finals.
But as the Celtics have done multiple times with this particular group, they passed the test. They cleared the hurdle and left no room for debate. When the pressure intensified, they rose to the occasion, all but putting a bow on this championship pursuit.
With the help of Luka Doncic fouling out, Boston closed the fourth quarter by scoring 13 points in the final 3:37, translating to a 130 offensive rating. That would be outrageous for any stretch, but it’s even more impressive in a road Finals game.
As Jaylen Brown mentioned before the series shifted to Dallas, the Celtics’ identity over the last two months has been their resilience — particularly when opponents punch them in the mouth with a big run.
“That’s the key, that’s majority of what the battle is,” Brown said. “Just managing your emotions, how you handle adversity, your will, and your perseverance. Everything isn’t going to go according to plan . effort makes up the difference.”
Brown snatched the Mavericks’ spirit late in Game 3 with contested mid-rangers to keep Boston afloat.
However, the real backbreaker was Jrue Holiday catching the ball in the left corner with 2:54 left and doing what he does best: Reading the game and making a high-IQ play.
The Celtics were trying to expose Tim Hardaway Jr.’s defense any time he was on the floor. With Hardaway Jr. opening his stance for a baseline drive, Holiday took the route and trusted he could draw help at the rim.
