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A test came early for the Celtics on Wednesday night. Joe Mazzulla used his first timeout less than two minutes into Game 3. By midway through the first quarter, Boston trailed by 13 points. Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić were extremely aggressive from the start, with their eyes on turning the NBA Finals into a competitive series.
The Celtics eventually held the Mavericks off not by shutting down Irving and Dončić, but by taking their teammates out of the game. The other Mavericks players combined for just 14 points in the first half while missing all four of their 3-point attempts. Only two of those tries even reached the basket; the Celtics blocked the other two. Though Irving and Dončić put on an offensive display in the first half, Boston only trailed 51-50 at the break, essentially shrugging off all of the impressive buckets.
Irving and Dončić finished with 62 combined points, but handed out just eight assists, far fewer than their average of 15 assists per game. Boston was able to limit the Mavericks to just 25 3-point attempts, and it’s really hard to beat the Celtics when they take nearly twice as many 3-pointers, as they did in Game 3. The fourth quarter got dicy for Boston after the Mavericks cut a 21-point deficit to one, but Dončić fouled out with 4:12 left and his teammates couldn’t finish the comeback without him.
As great as he and Irving are, they will need more help to have any chance of pulling off a historic comeback in this series.
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Courtesy : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/live-blogs/celtics-vs-mavericks-score-nba-finals-game-3-live-updates/HEvIWVFGCQ9I/