The Dallas Mavericks at least made things interesting in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but the Boston Celtics are on the verge of the title. The Celtics have taken a 3-0 lead in the series after surviving a tremendous fourth-quarter comeback from the Mavericks on Wednesday.
Despite Kristaps Porzingis being injured, the Celtics took a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter in Game 3 and held on for a seven-point win. The Celtics are considered the favorites to win the series with -10000 odds. No NBA team has ever been able to come back from a 3-0 series deficit in the playoffs. Right now, Dallas is just trying to avoid losing.
Here’s a look at the odds and storylines for Game 4 on Friday in Dallas.
All odds from BetMGM. Find the best deals for tickets at StubHub.
Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks
how to see: 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Celtics lead the series 3-0
Chain Constraints: Celtics -10000, Mavericks +2000
Neutrally, there are two ways to look at what happened in Game 3. On one hand, Dallas finally took the game down to the final moments. Sure, the Mavericks trailed by 21 early in the fourth quarter, but they responded with a 22-2 run. Dallas struggled after Luka Doncic fouled out with 4:12 left in the game, but he and Kyrie Irving combined to score 62 points and the Mavs showed there is a way to win against this Boston team.
Boston, on the other hand, is up 3-0 and it doesn’t matter, except that Dallas showed they have a good chance to avoid the sweep and nothing more. As of publication time, the Mavericks are still the favorites for Game 4 at home, albeit by a slim margin (and less than the 2.5-point spread for Game 3).
Irving played well for the first time in the series, scoring 35 points on 13-28 shooting. Dončić scored 27 points but was just 1-7 from 3-point range and fouled out after so much time in the 3-point game when he fouled out, which dealt a big blow to Dallas’ comeback attempt. The Mavs outscored Boston by nine points with Dončić’s 38 minutes of play. Boston outscored Dallas by as many as 16 points with 10 minutes of play.
Dallas needed to regroup to beat Boston in Game 3. The blueprint seemed to be there in Game 3, but it wasn’t enough.
Boston is now looking for its first sweep in the NBA Finals since 2018, when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, a year after Irving left Cleveland and moved to Boston. A year ago, Irving and the Cavaliers trailed Golden State 3-0, but Irving scored 40 points in Game 4 in what was a blowout win for the Cavs.
There have been nine sweeps in NBA Finals history. Can Boston make it to 10 sweeps on their way to the franchise’s 18th championship?
If the Celtics win on Friday, Jaylen Brown is expected to become Finals MVP, at least according to the betting odds. Brown has a -350 chance to win the award. He is averaging 24.3 points, six rebounds, 5.7 assists and two steals per game. Jayson Tatum has a +275 chance to win Finals MVP, as he has shot only 35.9 percent from the field for the series. He had 31 points in Game 3 and could win the award with a stellar performance in Game 4.
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(Photo of Luka Doncic and Jaylen Brown: Stacey Revere/Getty Images)
