NBA Finals 2024 - The biggest questions after Game 3 of Celtics-Mavericks - ESPN

The Boston Celtics are one win from capturing the 2024 NBA title — and they earned it.

Boston built its fourth-quarter lead to 21 points before a frantic rally by the Dallas Mavericks turned Wednesday's Game 3 into a roller coaster. However, the Celtics withstood every late charge by the Mavericks, who lost superstar guard Luka Doncic in the final minutes after he fouled out on a controversial blocking call, and took a 3-0 lead in the Finals behind a 106-99 victory in Dallas.

The Celtics also won despite big man Kristaps Porzingis being sidelined by a leg injury. His status remains day-to-day, but ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported there is «real doubt» over Porzingis' status moving forward.

How did Boston overcome Porzingis' injury and hold off Dallas' late rally? Are these Finals headed for a Celtics sweep? Our NBA Insiders are breaking down the wild finish to Game 3, Doncic's uneven performance and what lies ahead in Friday's Game 4 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

Tim Bontemps: That Boston still hasn't quite shaken all of its bad habits but still has enough talent to close out this series. The fourth quarter was a highlight reel of Boston's past issues — poor offensive execution, lapses in concentration and overall head-scratching decision-making. But after giving up a 22-2 run that got Dallas back within a point, Boston was able to lock in defensively down the stretch. It was enough to move the Celtics one win away from an NBA-record 18th championship — even if it became far more stressful than it should have been.

Chris Herring: The Celtics are inevitable. It didn't matter that Porzingis wasn't there, because Xavier Tillman could hold his own in his minutes. It didn't matter that Kyrie Irving finally found his offense, because