Celtics take nothing for granted on brink of crown


The Boston Celtics bench looks on as Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington attempts a shot during the second half in Game 3 of the NBA basketball finals, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Dallas. The Celtics won 106-99.(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Jayson Tatum has known since he was drafted by the Celtics in 2017 that the measure of success in Boston is an NBA title, but he’s not chalking up championship No. 18 just yet.

“Even now, up 3-0, nobody is celebrating or anything,” Tatum said Thursday, a day after the Celtics thwarted a late Dallas rally to beat the Mavericks 106-99 and take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

They’ve piled up 10 straight playoff victories, including a sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals and can close out the Mavericks in Dallas on Friday.

READ: NBA Finals: Celtics offer little on Porzingis after leg injury

But even though no team has rallied from 0-3 down to win an NBA playoff series, Tatum said he and his Celtics teammates will remain focused only on playing better in game four.

“We still feel like there’s a lot more that we can do,” Tatum said. “There’s a lot more that we want to do.”

The Celtics are currently tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for most NBA titles all-time with 17.

They last lifted the trophy in 2008, and Tatum and teammate Jaylen Brown were on the team that had a chance for No. 18 two years ago but came up short against the Golden State Warriors in a title series that Boston led 2-1 before dropping the last three games.

Vying for redemption last season, the Celtics fell in seven games to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

READ: NBA Finals: Celtics land biggest punches again to move closer to title

“I think from our experiences over the past couple of years, the thing that we’ve really gotten a lot better at is not relaxing, not being complacent,” Tatum said.

Brown said the “embarrassment” of falling in game seven, on their home floor, to Miami last year had fueled him this season.

“It drove me all summer, drove me crazy,” he said.

Tatum called last season “a great learning experience.”

“For one, to not take things for granted,” he said. “You’re never promised to make it back to the Finals.

“I think each and every person this year has came into the season with a different mindset. I think it has truly shown that we don’t take things for granted, and we approach every single day the same.”

That mindset saw the Celtics grab a league-leading 64 victories in the regular season.

They are unbeaten on the road in these playoffs and have a chance to become just the 10th team to fashion a 4-0 sweep in the NBA Finals.

The most recent sweep was Golden State’s 4-0 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.

The first franchise to do it was Boston against the Lakers in 1959. It was the club’s second title and the first of eight straight championships.



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“Being part of Celtics history entails that you’ve got to win a championship,” Tatum said.

Celtics offer little on Porzingis after leg injury


Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis talks with reporters before basketball practice, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Dallas, in preparation for Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

DALLAS— Kristaps Porzingis didn’t do an encore with reporters two days after Boston’s big man answered questions in the immediate aftermath of the announcement of his rare lower left leg injury.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t offer much insight, either, which means Thursday’s injury report will be the closest thing to any official word on whether Porzingis’ latest ailment will keep him out of Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Dallas on Friday night.

The Celtics listed Porzingis as questionable for Game 4, just as he was before getting ruled out about two hours before Game 3.

READ: NBA Finals: Porzingis’ status uncertain due to rare leg injury

Boston moved within a victory of an 18th championship without Porzingis, beating Dallas 106-99 on Wednesday for a 3-0 series lead. The Celtics are poised to break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most NBA titles.

The 7-foot-2 Latvian has a dislocated tendon in his left leg, caused by a tear of the tissue that holds tendons in place. The team has called the injury rare, and Mazzulla labeled it “serious.”

Porzingis played the first two games of the finals, with a crucial role in the Game 1 win, after missing the previous 10 playoff games with a strained right calf.

Mazzulla said the commanding series lead would have no bearing on whether Porzingis plays. The medical staff deemed him unfit to play after putting him through drills before Game 3.

READ: NBA Finals: Porzingis a big problem for Mavericks team that cast him off

“Kristaps has gotten better from yesterday to today,” Mazzulla said Thursday. “He’s fighting like hell to play. But it’s going to be up to us to protect him and to make sure that it’s in the best interest for him as a player and as a person.”

Porzingis played beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career when he had 11 of his 20 points and two of his three blocks in the first quarter of Boston’s 107-89 victory in Game 1.

The injury happened in the third quarter of Game 2, when Porzingis said he knocked knees with Dallas rookie center Dereck Lively II when they went for a rebound on a free throw.

READ: NBA Finals: Celtics land biggest punches again to move closer to title

Al Horford has started all three games in the finals, including the two when Porzingis played, and Xavier Tillman Sr. had a 3-pointer during a 20-5 Boston run while playing for the first time in the title series with Porzingis out.

“We’ve been playing all season and all playoffs without (Porzingis),” star guard Jaylen Brown said. “Obviously, we’d love to have (Porzingis) out there. We are different when he is. But X stepped in that role, and I thought he was great.”

Porzingis signed a $60 million, two-year extension with the Celtics after they acquired him in a trade with Washington last summer. That deal kicks in next season.

Regardless of whether he plays, Porzingis has a chance to win a championship at the home of the Mavericks, who acquired him in a blockbuster 2019 trade with the New York Knicks, hoping to create a dynamic European pairing with Dallas superstar Luka Doncic.

The Mavs branded that deal a failure by sending Porzingis to Washington before the trade deadline in 2022. The 28-year-old has a long history of injuries, including in New York and Dallas, and could be celebrating in street clothes on his old home court.



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“I’ve been through some stuff in my career, and obviously this is a rough patch coming back and having something happen right away again,” Porzingis said Tuesday, when the injury was announced. “It’s very — just a tough moment right now.”

Luka Doncic learning in first NBA Finals, but not conceding to Celtics


Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic heads to the lockers after Game 3 of the NBA basketball finals against the Boston Celtics, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Dallas. The Celtics won 106-99. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

NBA Finals 2024 Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS— Luka Doncic winced ever so slightly as he stepped onto the stage to address reporters a day after his Dallas Mavericks fell behind Boston 3-0 in the NBA Finals.

A rough first finals for the 25-year-old superstar, no doubt — an injury-filled postseason punctuated by fouling out for the first time in his playoff career, thanks to a four-foul fourth quarter in a 106-99 loss to the Celtics in Game 3.

Near the end of six seasons filled with comparisons to LeBron James, here’s another for Doncic. Just like the player he idolized as a teenager, Doncic is on the verge of having to weather failure on basketball’s biggest stage before getting more chances to experience the ultimate success.

READ: ‘Fun’ key to Mavs’ bid for unprecedented NBA Finals comeback–Doncic

“I didn’t really study the first finals of some people,” Doncic said Thursday, the eve of Game 4 in Dallas with the Celtics on the verge of an 18th championship, which would break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in the NBA.

Doncic did remember the first Eastern Conference finals — two, actually — for Michael Jordan in Chicago a generation ago.

“Obviously, there’s the story of MJ against Detroit,” the five-time All-Star said. “That was a big thing. I think he just learned from it. You’ve got to go through lows first to go on top. I think that’s great experience.”

After finally breaking through against the Pistons, Jordan won the title in his first trip to the NBA Finals in 1991, the start of a 6-0 run in the title series over an eight-season span.

Doncic is at risk of the same fate in his first finals as James, who was swept with Cleveland against San Antonio in 2007. LeBron lost again with Miami — against Dallas, no less — in 2011 before winning back-to-back titles with the Heat.

READ: NBA Finals: Luka Doncic fouls out and Mavericks fall into 3-0 hole

Asked if he thought his game could improve in the offseason, Doncic said, “Oh, definitely, a lot of holes,” before reiterating he would learn plenty from his first finals. Then he paused.

“But we’re not in the offseason yet,” Doncic said. “They’ve still got to win one more game. Like I said, we’re going to believe until the end.”

The end is near for Dallas because Doncic didn’t get enough help from co-star Kyrie Irving in the first two games, or from his supporting cast in any of the first three.

Still, the Slovenian sensation has had his own difficulties, particularly in Game 3. The Celtics relentlessly targeted Doncic’s defense, which has been solid to good overall in these playoffs.

The four fouls came so quickly in the fourth quarter, his sixth forced a challenge that Dallas lost with 4:12 remaining. The Mavs were on a 20-2 run when Doncic was disqualified, and scored again to get within a point before Boston held on to avoid blowing a 21-point lead with 11 minutes remaining.

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic NBA Finals Mavericks vs Celtics

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) looks on as referee John Conley (79) gives a review on a play against the Boston Celtics during the second half in Game 3 of the NBA basketball finals, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Dallas. Doncic fouled out in the fourth quarter. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

With a long history of complaining to officials, Doncic made a point earlier in the playoffs to go back to having fun. He’s had trouble sustaining it, and didn’t have kind words for the refs after fouling out in regulation for the first time in his career.

“I just really want to win,” Doncic said. “Sometimes I don’t show it the right way, but at the end of the day, I really want to win. I’ve got to do a better job showing it a different way.”

Doncic is 3 for 3 on miserable fourth quarters in the finals, with more turnovers (four) than baskets (three) and zero 3-pointers. Before the rare foul-out (the third of Doncic’s career), he sat most of the fourth with the Celtics comfortably in front in Game 1.

Dallas’ best closer hasn’t been closing in this series, and added a chest contusion to a postseason litany of ailments that included a sprained right knee and a sore left ankle.

Although the chest injury — sustained in Game 1 — was the only one on the latest injury report, it’s significant enough that Doncic confirmed to ESPN the network’s report that he had been taking a pain-killing injection by acknowledging he would probably have another one before Game 4.

“My message to him is he’s not alone in this,” said Irving, who bounced back from a sluggish offensive start to the series with 35 points in Game 3. “He’s played as best as he can despite the circumstances, just injuries and stuff. He’s been giving it his all. It’s not all on him.”

The spotlight in still on him, just as it was for Jordan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and James before the first of his four titles nearly 20 years ago.

“I think the history is there for us to learn from, when you look at great players and the struggles,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “But the great ones, they use that going into the next season or the next couple seasons to try to get back there because now they understand experience is a big thing.”



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Doncic won’t do that until this season is officially over.