Mastodon
@Dallas Mavericks

FULL REACTION: Celtics take a 3-0 lead over Mavericks 👀 ‘Most IMPRESSIVE quarter this offseason’



FULL REACTION: Celtics take a 3-0 lead over Mavericks 👀 ‘Most IMPRESSIVE quarter this offseason’

all right we got the full game highlight for you now sports center with you from the Nations Capal Scott v pelp no porzingis for game three it was injury that has an odd sounding sort of explanation and it meant that he wasn’t available in this one and you had to expect the home team would come out and play with spirit and fire they did Kyrie float game on point but then 27 Footers worth three points and that is a 13-point lead the largest of the series Tatum was pulling from three all night long he rattles that one home Tatum took 13 threes in this game it was a bad close to the first quarter cuz you get a three and then W out great find from white to find Tatum for a dunk and that 13-point lead is all but gone it’s back to one Tatum at 13 in the first quarter after he had 13 in the first half of Games 1 and two combined Celtics now leading check that Kyrie give me all three of these and then it’s Irving again he was far too quiet in games one and two Patrick Mahomes cheering him on Kyrie with 20 in the first half he had 16 in the first half of games one and two so Tatum and Kyrie both much better in this game three Luca his patented slow probe of the defense and then gets to the spot he likes hits that mid-range bucket Jaylen Brown Tatum tying things up it was a one-point Mavs lead at the break third quarter this is just Boston at its absolute best good ball movement Tatum down low layup good Celtics regain the lead Tatum in Rhythm that’s cash his fourth career 25-point game in the finals great ball movement Brown bucket it’s an eight-point lead six to go in the third Tim Hardway Jr shot is blocked incredible block by white and then on the other end Tatum how is that not a foul I don’t know the fish is looking right at it it’s a all of a sudden a 10-point lead well it’s about to be 13 x x going to give it to you Xavier Tillman and the Celtics bench going wild as the seldom used Reserve gets his and then they go crazy as that is an absolute ThunderBolt from brown brown and Tatum outscore the mass by themselves in the third and it is a 15-point lead heading into the fourth it would balloon to 21 and it looked like this was an absolute Runway a route and a wrap hold the phone Josh Green hits a three EMT excited shut it down Dirk gave a little elbow there to Nash that was kind of fun PJ Washington Corner three six-point game and then this is a huge moment three-point game Brown puts his head down as Tim legler said initiates the contact Luca gets his sixth foul first playoff game he’s ever fouled out of it was legs point that if Brown didn’t hit the deck it might not have been a foul call it was and Luca can’t do anything but laugh but obviously it’s not funny they need him and they don’t have him Kyrie though it’s a teardrop a onepoint game Kyrie had 35 points the Celtics had an 8 minute stretch where they scored just two points offensively they’re a mess but there it’s a put back from Brown on the Tatum Miss and then that’s when Washington gets called for an offensive foul on the screen donic can’t believe that either ensuing Celtics possession that’s the beautiful find from Drew holiday Derek white hits a monster three and the Celtics push the lead back to six then in tra that’s a a semi loose ball in the middle of traffic and Tatum in the middle of three Mavs is able to get it and get the dunk but with a minute 20 to go somehow Derek Lively gets lost in the painties all alone it’s a two-point game here’s that bucket that brown hit that we were just talking about with legs just a huge huge hit to push the lead back to two possessions with a minute to go then this was a got to have it shot that comes up short from Kyrie C’s get the rebound free throws are made and that’ll do it Boston a win away then after a monster contra tion here’s Jaylen Brown on pulling away down the stretch um that third quarter we made some big plays in that third quarter um our guys that came in are Stay Ready guys came in and made shot Sam Hower Payton Pritcher played well for us and we just played the right way the whole the whole night I’m talking about down the stretch you guys were up 21 it ended up being a close game just how were you able to pull away this is basketball it’s basketball they went on the Run they had some momentum but we kept our pois we made timely baskets um we got some good shots going in and uh we found a way to win uh yeah you know we needed to stay boys and uh you know we feel like we’ve been in these positions before and uh um you know we’ve we’ve learned in the past from it and I feel like we handled it well uh D White made a big three there late JB and JT made some big plays and uh Drew defensively was all over the place and you know we just find a way to get it done no I really can’t speak for anybody you know bit frustration but at the end of the day we made one extra push and that’s something that we needed to just kind of give us just some typee of motivation during this game on the other end Luca fouled out with over four to go he was not in a greatest mood all night long as far as the officials go what do you have to say about all of it when was over it’s okay uh every time toj it uh basically call a foul so um I try to be better uh so U Got to Get Better middle here Blake Elliot 105 through the fan Luka just take us through right here in the middle just take us through your emotions when you foul out of the game and you see your team trying to fight back into it I mean yeah we had a good chance you know we were close uh just didn’t get it I wish I was down there any other questions for Luca got Tim right here first round Tim mcmah ESPN uh Luca what did you think of the whistles that went against you in the fourth quarter I mean I don’t know um we couldn’t play physical so uh I don’t know I don’t want to say nothing but you know six fou in the NBA Finals where I basically I’m like this uh come on man better than that you know you guys came out uh cooking in the in the first quarter I think 25 points to like 7 minutes what happened to make you know to to bog down the offense you know what what happened uh to make scoring more difficult there I think we should just kept playing uh you know uh with the same energy you know keep the same people in uh we were rolling down there uh but then they came back uh you know at some point we were down 212 in the four quarter and we came back so uh we’re going to still believe Till the End early in the playoffs Luca when he was woing a go bear said he was speaking Slovenian looked like sometimes there was a little Slovenian for the officials tonight uh in general but that sixth foul that’s a that’s a tough one on a star player in that moment a foul is a foul I get it what do you what do you make just of that call I it’s letter of the law that’s a foul because he’s definitely not completely set his feet are in the air it’s a tough one because jayen Brown initiates all of the contact and I think the fouls called because Jaylen Brown goes to the floor if Jaylen Brown doesn’t fall right there I think you’re not going to call that most likely you’re just going to let him play through the contact and keep going when Jaylen Brown loses his footing and goes to the ground that’s what’s going to trigger the official to call something and because Luca wasn’t totally set letter of the law that’s a foul what a brutal way for luuka to end that game sitting there for the last four and a half minutes after that great comeback you know it’s like it’s like a PE in a football game where there’s contact clearly and it’s like let our laws are flag clearly but but in a certain situation in the game do do you do you want that call to be made necessarily and I mean I get it if you’re a Celtics fan like hey man it’s a foul but that’s LCA fouling out in a game that ultimately is a two-point game for Dallas and they got to try to do it without donish they’re not winning without him they might not have won it with him but I don’t know just I have I’ll be honest with you there was a few calls there at the end of the game I had a far bigger problem with the illegal screen PJ Washington in the back court I thought that was an absolutely brutal call like I’m I’m not sure what you’re even looking at and anticipating that kind of action there was very little contact even to take place to call that in that spot I’m actually more upset for Dallas if I’m a Dallas fan I’m more upset with that call even than the Luca one remember remember the Miles Turner uh Indiana New York absolutely okay that’s a foul well you know how many screens there are in a game it’s all anyone does is run a high ball screen and you could call it a billion times if you wanted to calling it in that situ I’m not going to turn this into a session about the officials when we got a million other things to talk about we were prepared to talk about the Boston third quarter and we will but that that the whole fourth quarter just felt like it was it was Mayhem can you make sense of it in some sort of coherent answer well it was yeah incredibly bizarre we up there talking I I said to you like as as that comeback taking place I said I’ve never been so certain of what I was about to to do on a touchcreen as I was at the end of the third quarter and then that happened so let’s just talk quick third quarter I’ve referenced Buzz Boston offensively all year as a buzz saw that was what it typifies what it looks like in the third quarter every single pass was purposeful now Dallas contributed to it there’s no doubt I could do a whole separate touchcreen on their defensive breakdowns during that stretch but some of that is because you get demoralized to the point um that you can’t guard these guys and that’s what happened in the third quarter it was tough shot making on some individual stuff but more often than not it was initial breakdown followed by the ability to get the ball out and get it around to that next guy and every single guy that towed one up made one in that quarter just so impressive I thought it was maybe the most impressive offensive quarter Boston’s had in the postseason that I’ve seen that’s how good they were and then the fourth they got away from that they got ice so heavy they started playing a little bit almost frantic that was the word you used that I was getting shots up it was a very strange scenario at the exact same time that is converting everything at the other end and here you go we got a three-point game one possession game that I did not see coming at all the way Dallas looked from a body language standpoint when that third quarter ended I did not see that run happening Scott to get them back in the game so as Derek white said give Dallas Credit there for fighting back Boston contributed to that with their offense though 10699 the Celtics win game three and they were powered by an absolutely sparkling third quarter when they made shot after shot after shot to the tune of 35 to9 they ultimately built a 21-point lead had to really hang on after they got totally out of sorts and Dallas showed the kind of fight and Desperation that a team that’s in a two hole can certainly demonstrate But ultimately it’s a seven-point win here’s Joe Missoula on his Squad Up 3 0 there’s I mean just stick to the things that we’ve been doing I mean have an understanding I think you know we we were down 13 I expected that we were down one and a half I expected that so you got to expect the expected you got to understand that uh you know we’re we’re just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable than they are and we have to play that way and so uh as long as we have that mindset um and you know when you understand that you’re vulnerable and your back’s against the wall you you got to fight and so that’s the mindset that we have to have we’re not necessarily saying like one more um or anything anything like that we just s however long it takes uh nobody’s relaxed nobody is satisfied uh but you know just at that moment uh you know just tell him I told him I was proud of him and he said the same thing and uh that we got to keep fighting uh you know we we can’t relax and that was basically the conversation Tim in the back under the camera Jason Tim Reynolds with the AP kind of along those lines I know you you haven’t gone through this so you now don’t know what the next two two days will be like but how difficult do you envision it to make between now and Friday night seem normal seem like there’s just a game to play on Friday um honestly not too difficult U from the standpoint of last year we were down 03 in the Conference Finals and we really felt like uh you know we were going to come back and we almost did you know we was a spring dle away from having like a real shot uh so you know we we we not relaxing or anything like that uh and you know just not even focusing on winning on Friday whatever just however long it takes that’s that’s our motto just however long it takes that’s what it’s going to take uh and nobody’s not time to relax at all had 61 actually outscored by the Dallas Duo of Kyrie and Luca 6261 but this is the graphic that matters when the Celtics hold their opponent to double digits in the playoffs they’ve won 31 consecutive postseason games that dates back to 2019 Tim legler is back and it didn’t turn into the blowout that the third period third quarter I should say appeared it would turn this game into all credit to Dallas for that but the the the performance from from Boston there in in that stretch and then the the the the moments that got them the victory what are you going to what are you going to focus in on well it’s after the comeback and now you’ve got to settle into a one possession game and we get right back to Boston executing again after all that ugly mess of stretch where it’s like they forgot who they were yeah they get to a lot of isolation basketball out of that they come out of the timeout and here’s what they’re going to run and this is one of their favorite sets they go to this an awful lot out of timeouts late in games when they need something you’re going to get the ball dribbled here over to the wing and then they run this little screen action for Tatum who then will run out and set a ball screen here it’s all designed to engage AG three guys and see if you can get enough switches and you’re going to end up with Derrick Lively out on the perimeter and that’s going to matter later on in the possession so here you go Tatum gets a first screen now he runs into a ball screen and here’s what I’m talking about and I just think Dallas did far too much of this in in this series and tonight you just indiscriminately switching you don’t want Derrick Lively out this far from the rim and you’ve also now got a situation where Jason Tatum has now going to mismatch and he’s going to run into the mid post and that matters too so all of these things have consequences but here you go and actually Dallas pretty good shape right here this isn’t even even bad defense on a part of Hardway this Ball’s driven Baseline that’s where you want it to go he’s riding his hip but it’s what happens on the backside remember I said Jason Tatum was in mid post well that means right here that Josh Green’s not in position to slide down and help which means now that’s got to come from the weak side which is going to be Kyrie Irving and that means now there’s two Shooters on the weak side of the floor and Derek Lively is out on the perimeter he’s a center he wants to rim protect he’s not great at reading this situation on first pass when it comes out but he is is the guy to take the first pass and you’ll see he makes a bad read he runs over here to the corner shooter and that is going to leave a massive Gap right here for drick white that’s incredible pass by Jal left-handed wraps it around but you see Derrik Lively just sort of out of place and Boston makes you pay every single time and then here I’m I’m diagramming these Scout because these I think the two biggest baskets in the game that took it from three to six now it’s back to four 220 to go and this is just D Jason Tatum again getting a ball screen and this time instead of coming over here on that screen that Horford sent and setting the ball screen instead he reads that he’s got a switch right here with a smaller player and that ball goes right into the paint and then this is just really honestly this is very weak weak side defense these guys don’t put up much of a fight he catches the ball spins out again Lively out of position and Jason Tatum gets the dunk same set two different reads first one Tatum rolls into the post through holiday drives you get a three to second one Tatum rolls into the post they hit him on the switch that time and he gets the finish this is one of the things they like to go to and they execute it as well as anybody and this these two possessions were have typified the issues Dallas has had repeatedly in this series with communication with Personnel uh and with with a lot of mistakes on that end and they’re playing against a team that just flat out capitalizes whenever you do that brown hit a tough two big time pull up jum midrange to it’s not touchscreen material because it’s just a one-on-one shot thank you for saying it not everything’s touch but I think that bucket ultimately was as big as any in this game and to be fair and and to give ourselves a little wiggle room here I thought we were going to be looking at that third quarter because that just looked to me like the wagon they’ve been all year long and people somehow try to convince themselves was going to be different here it’s just not they’re just they’re the best team in the NBA I’ll be having a lot of conversations about this team here over the next several days however long this series goes on if Dallas could still win a game I don’t think they’re winning more than one now and that third quarter will be somewhere Fe it’s something that I’m going to do because from an ex’s an0 standpoint and an execution standpoint offensively it’s as good as it gets and it also summed up a lot of the series Scott think about this Dallas is a minus 63 from the three-point line in this series through three games almost almost two to one tonight Boston had 17 Dallas had they’re minus 21 points on average per night in this series they also have 36 assists in three games that’s 12 per game think about it luuka averaged almost 10 himself in the Reg a season they have 12 assists per game over the first three games of the series because of the fact that Boston is so good at covering ground once they force you to pick the basketball up and they’re forced into a lot of difficult shot making that eventually is going to run out on you and it did tonight in that third quarter series go beyond Friday or is this a WP it’s hard for me to imagine Dallas winning that game with Boston I just think they’re so laser focused now and wanting to get this over with you’re not going to be shocked by it Dallas a very good team that they’ve got two great players could they win a game at home yeah and everybody always wonders is there part of it it’s like hey that team wouldn’t mind winning that thing in a game five in their home court a little bit more Boston wants this over with exactly and they also want to look up at the end of this and look at this run of what will it be 16- two in the postseason if they finish that off it’s one of the great postseason records we’ve ever had and I haven’t mentioned it yet but you know because you watched the game but no porzingis in this one again it just like he’s and you saw the Difference Maker he was in game one not as much in game two cuz he was limited by the injury but he’s like a he’s a luxury to this team that that’s that’s amazing that a guy that impactful could be we be okay without him they have been and they were again tonight

Tim Legler joins SportsCenter with Scot Van Pelt to react to the Boston Celtics’ Game 3 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals.
0:00 Game 3
5:03 Jaylen Brown, Al Horford & Daniel Gafford
6:03 Luka Doncic
8:01 Tim Legler reacts
11:51 Joe Mazzulla & Jayson Tatum
14:14 Tim Legler touchscreen

✔️ Subscribe to ESPN+ http://espnplus.com/youtube
✔️ Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn
✔️ Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE
✔️ Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoNBAonESPN
✔️ Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV

44 Comments

  1. Luka and his fans really shouldn't be complaining about getting his 6th foul, when he should have had 10. Close game in the Finals or not, he fully deserved to foul out.

  2. There is not a single series during this Playoffs we don't see a big mistake on the referees side… They need to be changed or rely more on cameras cuz they absolutely control the games and unfortunately not in a fair way. Knicks – 76ers series, This Celtics – Mavs and I can say at least 4-5 big bad calls that affected the outcome a lot.

  3. Completely unnoticed, unsung, and under-appreciated is Al Horford. Ask yourself how the Cs could even be in this series without him.

  4. I still think the Pacers were the best team Boston faced and they will be back to haunt the east for years to come. Those dudes would have run Luca into the dugout five times over.

  5. Legler is a massive C’s hater and Mavs homer. Sucks because he’s so intelligent and well spoken. I’ve tried watching his show during the finals and I can’t because it’s all Mavs talk and justification and mental gymnastics

  6. You already made it a BIT@H feast…your bais is Embarrassing! Thee entire ESPN media engineer narrative push on LUKA he's levels of Liability for any time…Can't hide behind Kyrie now it's The Hype Job

  7. I don’t see why the media thought this would be close. Celtics have 5 All-Stars on their roster, plus one that should be (D White) against 2. One of those 2 is primarily a ball hog.

  8. In These kinds of games final, a coach is very important in winning decisions, Jason Kid doesn't have it" Dallas has a great team but Kid does not have the urge of a winning mind set. He dos does not know what it takes to be NBA champs, especially in Dallas. Mike Cuban has to make a decision" and is not their players

  9. If Luka would’ve put even the slightest effort off that screen and helped Jaylen Brown wouldn’t have got that highlight on his team…dudedude needs to show some effort on both sides of the court

  10. This is so vindicating for my Celtics. The media and haters keep looking for problems, and the Celtics just keep making them look crazy lolololol.

  11. Y'all suck. He FOULED him. It would'v been a foul if it was his 1st foul, it was still a foul. YES you call a foul. You can't "well it's the finals" but they suck in the Finals, so call the foul.

  12. Tatum got hacked on a dunk and there was no complaining.

    Luka was complaining all game that he should've got ejected but people want to make excuses for him, nonsense! He must improve defensively to at least try

  13. Luka is a crybaby and actually fouls EVERY TIME on the defensive end because he doesn’t play any defense. If the refs actually called every time he fouled someone, he would have had like 16 fouls that game.

  14. It’s hilarious watching the commentators admitting that Luka CLEARLY fouled but then trying to say the refs shouldn’t have called it because “it’s Luka in Game 3 of the finals”. Lmao willing to bet they wouldn’t be making the same lame argument if it was Brown, or Tatum who fouled out

Write A Comment