Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown helped the Boston Celtics hold off a Dallas Mavericks fightback to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA finals, Wednesday night.
Tatum scored 31 points and Brown 30 as the Celtics won 106-99 in game three of the best-of-seven series.
The Mavericks reduced their deficit from 91-70 early in the fourth quarter to one point with three and a half minutes left but failed to turn an impressive comeback into a victory.
Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 35 for Dallas, while team-mate Luka Doncic contributed 27, but fouled out of the game with just over four minutes remaining.
Boston are one win away from an 18th NBA title and first since 2008, with the next game on Saturday.
Tatum says they learned from their mistakes last season.
Jason Tatum.
The Mavericks will have to make history if they are to claim the NBA title as no team has ever recovered to win from 3-nil down to win a play-off series.
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