Celtics land the biggest punches again, top Mavericks to move one win from NBA title
The Boston Celtics took a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals, putting them one win away from a record 18th championship.
DALLAS — Joe Mazzulla is a big fan of UFC matches and splices highlights of fights into some of the basketball film he shows the Boston Celtics for their video sessions.
He doesn’t do it for entertainment purposes or to make players laugh. He does it for a simple reason. He wants the Celtics to have a fighters’ mentality.
“If you’ve ever been in a fight with someone and you think you’re about to beat ’em, you usually get sucker-punched,” said Mazzulla, the second-year Celtics coach. “The closer you are to beating them up, the closer you are to losing.”
Translation: He wanted the Celtics ready for a fight. And in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, they were.
A pair of big runs — 23-8 in the first half, 20-5 in the second half — represented what became the knockout blows in this game, and maybe this series. Boston frittered away almost all of what was a 21-point lead before winning 106-99 to take a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals, moving one win away from what would be their record-setting 18th championship.
Rating: 5