(Boston) Jrue Holiday had 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 on Sunday, taking a 2-0 cushion into the NBA Finals.
Relatively discreet with 18 points, Jayson Tatum still provided 12 assists and nine rebounds.
He didn’t get a point in the first quarter and finished the first half with five points.
Jaylen Brown had 21 points and seven assists.
Luka Doncic had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Mavericks, who will host the next game on Wednesday.
Game 4 will be presented on Friday, again in Texas.
Boston moved one step closer to an 18th championship, which would break a tie at the top with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Celtics have led 2-0 in the Finals on nine occasions. They have always triumphed with this momentum thus far, never needing the series to go to seven games.
Derrick White also generated 18 points for the Celtics, who won despite being 10-for-39 on three-pointers.
P.J. Washington paced Doncic with 17 points, one more than Kyrie Irving.
The Massachusetts group led by only three points at the half, 54-51.
Once the score was 63-61 in favor of Boston, the Celtics took a timeout and then managed a 6-2 surge.
Peyton Pritchard hurt Dallas with his first basket of the final: Just before the end of the third quarter, his 34-footer gave the crowd favorites an 83-74 lead.
The Celtics stayed the course in the final quarter, en route to a ninth consecutive victory.