These Boston Celtics Are Indispensable in Clutch Moments

Any questions about the Boston Celtics’ ability to finalize this deal should be put to rest.

For a team that is often mislabeled as a team that falls apart when times are tough, Boston proved the opposite by poetically sealing Wednesday’s win.

In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, he silenced those strong teams in the fourth quarter and brought 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 little too comfortable. They started taking contested jumpers and dribbling in traffic, which led to live-ball turnovers and a stagnant offense. They scored just two points Eight Within minutes, all the memories of last year’s drought and East Finals fiasco came flooding back.

Dallas stormed back with a 22–2 run and cut the margin to one with about three and a half minutes remaining.

Boston needed to build one last lead. Given how devastating and, frankly, embarrassing a loss in Game 3 would have been, it’s not a stretch to suggest that the fourth quarter could have changed the finals.

But as the Celtics have done so many times with this particular group, they passed the test. They cleared the hurdle and left no room for debate. When the pressure was on, they rose to the occasion and nearly ended this championship run.

With the help of Luka Doncic fouling out, Boston finished the fourth quarter by scoring 13 points in the final 3:37, translating to a 130 offensive rating. That would be outrageous any way, but it’s even more impressive in a road finals game.

As Jaylen Brown noted before the series moved to Dallas, the Celtics’ hallmark over the last two months has been their resiliency — especially when opponents punch them big in the mouth.

“That’s the key, that’s the main part of the battle,” Brown said. “Just controlling your emotions, how you deal with adversity, your willpower and your perseverance. Not everything is going to go according to plan … effort is what makes the difference.”

Brown took away the Mavericks’ spirit and kept Boston afloat by competing with the mid-rangers at the end of Game 3.

The real shock, though, came from Jrue Holiday, who picked up the ball in the left corner with 2:54 remaining and did what he does best: read the game and make a high-IQ play.

The Celtics were trying to expose Tim Hardaway Jr.’s defense every time he was on the floor. Hardaway Jr. opened his stance for a baseline drive, Holiday took the route and trusted that he could help at the rim.

When the bottom man turned around, Holliday threw a left handed The dime was passed to Derrick White at the top of the arc. Because the Mavs’ defense had already collapsed, White caught the ball perfectly and ended up making the biggest play of the night. Notice how great the ball position was on Holiday’s pass – straight into the shooting pocket:

“I don’t know how they gave us (Holiday),” Tatum told the NBATV crew after the win. “But I’m so happy we have Jrue on our team and we’re so blessed. He always makes the winning plays.”

This clutch performance improved the Celtics’ playoff record to 6-0 in games decided in crunch-time (a margin within five points with five or fewer minutes left). They are now +26 in their 24 clutch minutes during the playoffs, a huge difference from their -2 scoring margin in 40 clutch minutes last year.

A year ago, Boston wouldn’t have been able to avoid the near collapse of last night. They would have lost confidence and been too nervous to get the job done.

However, if you listen to Brown, these are the comparisons that need to stop.

These are not the same Celtics. Their talent level has increased dramatically with the new rotation. Their composure is now at a championship level.

“Experience is the best teacher,” Brown said. “All year we’ve been hearing about the Celtics of the past. You know? That’s what we’ve been hearing for the last six to eight months. We’ve had all our shortcomings. But this is a new team. We’ve learned from those experiences. In these moments, you can see … we didn’t run away from it. We stepped up and found a way to win.”

Their road devastation continues as well. Boston has joined rare company with a 7-0 road start during its playoff run. Only the 2001 Lakers, 2017 Warriors and 2017 Cavaliers began the playoffs with seven straight road wins. Two of those teams undoubtedly belong on the Mount Rushmore of NBA groups and single-season runs. The other, Cleveland, would have won the championship in any other year if they hadn’t faced Golden State.

Boston is now on its way to making history by winning 10 consecutive playoff games. This is the longest playoff winning streak in the franchise’s 78-year existence. They are one of nine teams in NBA history to win 10 consecutive playoff games in a single season.

If they beat the Mavericks on Friday, Boston will become the only team Sometimes Winning the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.

At a certain point, facts and statistical models can no longer be ignored. It all boils down to the Celtics being a great team and getting their name in the record books.

Whether it’s Game 4 or later in the series, it’s now a formality. Teams that take a 3-0 lead in any seven-game series, regardless of the round, have a 100% success rate in ending it. So far, 155 have attempted comebacks and 155 have failed.

The Celtics’ defense in this series is proving to be one of the most cohesive units we’ve ever seen – tied together every step of the way. Joe Mazzulla’s gameplan from the start was to switch as much as possible against Doncic and Irving, keep his guys out of compromising positions and avoid sending doubles.

By nearly eliminating role players from this series, Boston has put a tremendous amount of pressure on Doncic and Irving to single-handedly create tough situations.

Staying out of the rotation and not allowing their defense to collapse has given the Celtics a huge advantage in the shot profile department. They have limited the Mavericks to just 14 (!) corner three-point attempts in three games. For reference, Dallas Average The average score in the first three rounds of the playoffs was 11.6 per game.

By switching pick-and-roll sets or playing two-on-two in traditional drop coverage, the Celtics have kept the ball in front a lot. This means there’s rarely a need for weak-side help, so Boston’s wings can stick to outside shooters while Dončić and Irving are draining their energy in one-on-one situations.

On the other side of the court, Tatum and Brown know that Dallas has a lot of weak defenders at the attack point. Almost every possession is a direct blow, forcing the weak side to help and overreact They staying away from.

That’s the biggest reason Boston has taken 30 more corner three-point attempts than Dallas … and it’s why they’re shooting 82% at the rim against the Mavs. They took every single shot Dallas wanted, denied it, and turned the tables. As a result, we have a lopsided Finals that will likely end on Friday.

Like his fellow candidates, Tatum doesn’t want to hear about what he did – or failed to do – in the past. They’re both young, so why? are not doing Did they accept the obstacles that came their way before maturing as a team and becoming champions?

Losing in the Finals in 2022 still hurts. But they were not favored to win that series. Certainly not against those Warriors.

Boston just had to make sure that heartbreak wouldn’t happen again.

“We’ve learned from our mistakes,” Tatum said. “We’ve learned from a team (Golden State) that was better than us, that was there and overcame adversity. They were mentally tougher at that point. We’ve moved on from that. We’ve really grown. And it showed tonight.”

Soon, every single bit of criticism will now fall on deaf ears. This title is theirs and they have earned it every step of the way. Impressive, eye-catching performances will soon erase everything from the past – and the window for a mini dynasty will be wide open.