Boston Celtics On Brink Of NBA Championship With 3-0 NBA Finals Lead

BOSTON, MA — Year after year they knocked on the door of history only to have it slammed in their faces before they could cross the threshold.

As tantalizingly close as the Celtics came to winning a storied franchise's 18th championship, the final rejection each season increased the pressure, stoked the talk and the doubt, and ultimately fueled the drive to make sure that this time was finally their time.

Never have these Celtics been as close to achieving that single, validating, crowning goal of winning of title as they are now after taking a 3-0 lead on the Dallas Mavericks with a 106-99 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night.

With one more triumph — which would be Boston's 80th victory of the season and 11th straight in the playoffs if it comes in Game 4 Friday night in Dallas — the path to a throne that began with the back-to-back No. 3 overall draft picks of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in 2016 and 2017, begot by trading the legendary ties to Banner 17, the next championship generation of the Celtics will take their rightful place in Leprechaun Lore.

"It's awesome," said Brown, who scored 24 of his 30 points in the second. "I don't really even have words. It kind of doesn't even feel real right now. I am just trying to stay in the moment. It feels great to be up 3-0 in this series.

"But the job is not done."

Brown and Tatum have played in five Eastern Conference finals together and this year are playing in their second NBA Finals. In 2022, they were seemingly closing in on a culminating achievement as they led 2-1 with five minutes to go in Game 4 against the Golden State Warriors before the veteran opponent with a championship pedigree stormed back to win that night — then the next two games — to send the Celtics home short of their final destination.

After a failed comeback from down 3-0 to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals last year, as Tatum suffered a sprained ankle in the opening minutes of Game 7, a retooled Celtics roster behind Brown and Tatum played as the best team in the NBA nearly wire-to-wire in going 64-18 in the regular season before winning 15 of their first 17 games of the playoffs — including all seven road games.

No team in NBA history has ever lost a series when leading 3-0.

"Last year we were down 3-0 in the conference finals and we really felt like we were going to come back," said Tatum, who scored 20 of his 31 points in the first half on Wednesday night. "We really did. We were a sprained ankle away from having a real shot. So we're not relaxing or anything like that. Not even focusing on winning Friday, or whatever, just however long it takes.

"That's our motto: However long it takes."

The Game 3 victory was dramatic from the opening tip with the Celtics coming back from down 13 in the first quarter to within one at the half, before taking a 21-point lead and withstanding a 20-2 Dallas run in the fourth quarter, as the Mavericks eventually cut the lead to one.

But with Dallas superstar Luka Doncic on the bench after fouling out of the game, it was the Celtics who seized the magnitude of the stage and made all the biggest plays that decided the game.

"We've been in that situation," Tatum said. "We've been in that close game when we've been up. We almost went up 3-1 (in the 2022 NBA Finals against Golden State) and they tied it. Experience is the best teacher. We've learned from our mistakes. We've learned from a team that, at the time, was better than us and had been there, and been over that hump and was mentally tougher at the time.

"We've grown from that. We really have. And it was on display tonight."

Brown and Tatum have realized nearly unprecedented success on the court when it comes to wins and losses in their still-young careers. But both are keenly aware that true success in Boston is measured in championships.

With one more victory, they will join the vaunted company of a city's all-time sports giants and make their indelible mark in the rafters of TD Garden.

"Experience is the best teacher," Brown said. "All year long, we've been hearing about the Celtics of the past. For the last six to eight months that's all we've been hearing. All the different shortcomings we've had in the past. This is a new team. We've learned from those experiences.

"And in these moments you can see that we didn't run from it."

NBA Finals Schedule

• Game 1: Celtics 107, Mavericks 89
• Game 2: Celtics 105, Mavericks 98
• Game 3: Celtics 106, Mavericks 99
• Game 4: Friday, June 14, at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. EDT
• Game 5: Monday, June 17, at Boston, 8:30 p.m. EDT (if necessary)
• Game 6: Thursday, June 20, at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. EDT (if necessary)
• Game 7: Sunday, June 23, at Boston, 8 p.m. EDT (if necessary)

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)