Celtics flop with chance to clinch NBA Finals: 'Have to reassemble' - ESPN

DALLAS — Entering Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and sitting one win away from a record-setting 18th NBA championship, the Boston Celtics told the world they would play with the same motivation they did through the first three games of the series.

Things didn't exactly play out that way.

The Celtics from the opening three games of this series never made it into the building for Game 4; Boston fell behind early and never recovered as Dallas steamrolled its way to a 122-84 victory to avoid a sweep Friday night.

The loss snapped the Celtics' 10-game postseason winning streak and marked their first road loss in these playoffs.

«Ultimately, I felt like they were the better team tonight,» Al Horford said. «We can say all these things about us.… They played much better than us.

»They clearly outplayed us, and that's tough to take. But that's the reality."

The loss sends the Finals to a fifth game Monday night at TD Garden in Boston.

Two years ago, the Celtics watched the Golden State Warriors celebrate on the famed parquet floor after winning their fourth championship of the Stephen Curry era by winning Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals. Boston will now hope to put Dallas through the same thing, and celebrate earning an 18th championship banner for the TD Garden rafters.

Any thoughts of wrapping up the Finals at American Airlines Center, however, quickly dissipated Friday night. The Mavericks, who almost erased a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 3, carried that momentum into Game 4, unleashing an absolute barrage at the Celtics from the opening tip.

Dallas had led 25-12 seven minutes into Game 3 before Boston stormed back. Nine minutes into Game 4, the Mavericks had built a 25-14 lead — only this time, there was no response from