Ep. 127: Mavericks Come Back Falls Short In GM 3 of NBA Finals vs. Celtics | Luka Fouls Out Despite Kyrie Brilliance

On this episode of 'Inside The Mavs' Kevin Gray, Mavs Pre/Post Game Host discusses the Mavericks loss to the Celtics in GM 3 of the NBA Finals as the Mavs are now on the brink of elimination. Despite Kyrie Irving's best game the Mavs epic come back fell short to Boston and they are now down 3-0 in the NBA Finals. Kevin recaps and discusses the game and what needs to happen for the Mavericks to stave off elimination in GM 4 to extend the series and more!

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Dan Devignya, who sports over here, Luca. I think the number is
one hundred and fifty six teams beendown three to zero in a series.
Not one has come back yet,having come so close tonight, with that
less it will best punch you through. How do you get into the right
mindset to be able to get oneon the board in game four? Yeah,
I mean, like I said,it's not over, so it's over.
So we just got to believe.Like I always say, it's first

(00:23):
to four, we're gonna stay together. We lose together, we'll win together.
So we got to stay together.The Mavericks are on the brink of
elimination after the Celtics dynamic duel ofJalen Brown and Jason Tatum out dual Luca
and Kyrie in a pivotal Game three. How it went down in Game three
of the NBA Finals. This isInside the MAVs. Welcome to Inside the

(01:15):
mass presented by Aura. I'm yourhost, Kevin Gray, Mavericks prim post
game host only Dallas Mavericks Radio Network. Appreciate you joining me here for the
latest episode of Inside the MAVs.Make sure you download and subscribe to the
podcast wherever you get your podcast forfree, give it a five star rating
and write a review for it whileyou're there. And if you're watching this
on my YouTube channel at Kevin GraySports, make sure you like and comment

(01:38):
on the video. Hit that subscribebutton while you're there, and you can
follow me on Twitter at Kevin GraySports. The Mavericks massive comeback at tenth
falls short after being down by twentyone in the fourth quarter as they lose
one oh six to ninety nine andGame three of the NBA Finals. Luca
Dodge is fouling out with four totwelve left to play in the fourth quarter

(02:00):
when the Mavericks were down by threeat ninety three to ninety and the Mavericks
see the game slip away in thewaning moments of the fourth quarter. After
the Mavericks were up by as manyas thirteen in the first quarter, the
Celtics turned that around to what wouldbe a twenty one point lead in the

(02:20):
fourth quarter. In fact, theCeltics outscored the Mavericks forty one to nineteen
to begin the second half, beforethe Mavericks went on a massive twenty two
to two run in the fourth quarterto pull it within one, but ultimately
falling short despite the fact that LukaDoncic finished the game with twenty seven points.
Kyrie Irving, after scoring twenty eightpoints combined in the first two games

(02:45):
of the Finals, had his bestgame so far of this three game of
these three games so far in theNBA Finals, with the thirty five points
that he had, and the Maverickshad four guys in double figures, including
PJ. Washington and Derek Lively.Washington thirteen, Lively had eleven, but
it wasn't enough as the Celtics sawtheir dynamic duo and Jalen Brown and Jason

(03:07):
Tatum combined for sixty one points.Derek White had a big fourth quarter,
scoring eight of his sixteen points inthe decisive frame as the Celtics went seventeen
of forty six from downtown. TheMavericks went nine to twenty five from three
themselves. As the Mavericks now seethemselves down three games to none in this

(03:28):
best of seven series in the NBAFinals, and a lot is going to
be made about Luka Doncic and theway that he played, especially in the
fourth quarter, picking up four foulsand picking up his final foul with a
little over four minutes left in thegame on what was a blocking foul that
was ultimately challenged and not won bythe Mavericks, and Luca having to watch

(03:51):
the rest of his teammates play atthe final four minutes of the game.
While Kyrie was able to help themto pull it within one, the Mavericks
were not able to pull off themmiraculous comeback and now face what every team
who has been down three games tonone in the NBA postseason history, teams
that are down three games to noneare zero and one point fifty six when

(04:14):
trying to win that series. Onlya handful of teams that we've even forced
it to a game seven. Andeven though Luka Doncis, as you heard
at the beginning of the show,says, look, it's not over until
it's over, it feels like ina lot of ways it is. And
how we got there is going tobe talked about for quite some time,
because, yes, we will talkabout the foul hunting that Luka Doncics may

(04:35):
have been doing or was doing duringthe course of Game three, whether he
was complaining to officials not getting backon defense that led to transition threes like
the one that Sam Houser hit inthe first quarter. Any number of ways
that you want to slice it interms of how much Luka Doncics play or
lack thereof, especially on the defensiveend, affected This game will be talked

(05:00):
about and be the headline out ofthis story. But when you start looking
at how things actually went down ingame number three, you've got to start
taking a look at the way thingsstarted, because for the Mavericks, they
came out aggressive. No Christos Porzingisof course in Game three, as he's
dealing with that left foot injury,and we may not see him for the
rest of the NBA Finals, howeverlong or short. The rest of this

(05:25):
series is ESPN's Adrian wels Narowski sayingthat it's unlikely that we would see Chrisosporzingis
for the rest of the Finals.So the Mavericks were able to take advantage
of that, especially in the paint, where they score fifty two of their
ninety nine points in the paint inGame three. Now what's concerning, obviously,
is that for the third straight gameto open up this series, the

(05:46):
Celtics have held the Mavericks to underone hundred points in the NBA Finals.
But despite that the Mavericks really foundthemselves getting into the paint and attacking early
in offense, and that was dueto Luka Donc and Kyrie Irving setting the
tone on the offensive end. TheMavericks started off the game with a nine
to two start in the first twominutes of the game, and they had

(06:08):
the Celtics calling a timeout less oftwo minutes into the first quarter. In
fact, the Mavericks led thirteen tofive four minutes in after Daniel gaffer Dunck
again talking about getting into the interiorthat the Mavericks needed to do in the
paint, and that was off ofa PJ. Washington assist. In fact,
the Mavericks started eleven of sixteen fromthe field in the first quarter in

(06:29):
the first seven and a half minutes, as Kyrie and Luca each had nine
points a piece, combining for whatwas eighteen of the mavers first twenty five
points of the first quarter. Infact, they led twenty five to twelve
with four and a half minutes leftin the first and one of the things
that you saw early on was KyrieIrving and Luka Donc just getting downhill,
attacking the rim and being able topush it in transition off of Celtics missus,

(06:53):
which is something that you've got tobe able to do in order to
find yourself getting some easy buckets intransition or being able to get some points
in the paint. And I thoughtthe Mavericks did a tremendous job of doing
that early and off and noticing howmuch more space was opened in the middle
without the shot blocking and rim protectionof Christs Berzingis. But as the Celtics

(07:14):
have done throughout the course of thisNBA Finals and throughout the course of this
postseason, making big runs. Infact, the Celtics would go on an
eleven zero run to cut the leaddown to just two with two and a
half minutes left, again Jalen Browncapping off in the middle of that a
seven oh run that had the MAVsstill leading at twenty five to nineteen,

(07:34):
but the Celtics relentlessly continuing to getafter it. As I mentioned the Mavericks
that were able to end that eleveno'er run with the Luka Doncics basket,
but Sam Hauser got a three pointerwith twenty eight seconds left. As we
mentioned, Luka Doncic hunting for afoul did not get a foul call next
to you know, it's five onfour back the other way, Howser hits

(07:57):
the three and then Jalen excuse me, Ja Sintana's able to get an a
runout dunk at the end of thefirst quarter to cut what was a thirteen
point deficit into just one. Asthe Celtics ended the final four and a
half minutes of the first quarter onan eighteen to six run. That just
shows you how well Boston is willingto maintain themselves. They absorbed the big

(08:20):
punch from the Mavericks in that firstquarter and they themselves on an eighteen to
six run to be able to closethe gap to only be down one going
into the second quarter. More onthis game and how Luka Doncis is being
perceived after what happened in Game numberthree, and more so even some decisions

(08:41):
that were made by Jason Kidd thathad as curious, especially after donte Xen
was able to play the way thathe did and not him seeing the floor
for a while instead of Tim withTim Hard Virginia playing instead. But before
we get there, let's hear fromtoday's sponsor of our video in our podcast
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(10:33):
and thank you to today's sponsor,our video or our podcast. In
Aura, as the Mavericks fall inGame three to the Boss and Celtics as
they lose one oh six to ninetynine, now down three games to none
as they try to stave off eliminationin game four on Friday, detailing how
things went down for the Mavericks,especially in that first half when they were

(10:56):
up by thirteen points. You sawthe Celtics be able to close that first
quarter, as you mentioned on whatwasn't eighteen to six run to close what
was a thirteen point deficit down toone going into the second quarter, and
there was an interesting moment in thefirst half, especially in that first quarter.
Dante Exim comes in. He onlyplays about two and a half minutes

(11:18):
of the first quarter, but heattacks the rim and gets a dunk and
drives it on Jason Tatum. Thatmade it twenty nine to twenty five with
a minute and a half left inthe first quarter. And you thought,
with Dante x in the way thathe played in Game two, providing a
spark as a ball handler and givingsome relief to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving
from a ball handling perspective, thathe may get a little bit more run.

(11:41):
And he made an immediate impact drivingto the lane again, taking advantage
of the open space in the middlewithout Christaps Porzingis there and really made his
presence feled. But at the sametime, Jason Kidd musta not have felt
the same because one of the thingsthat we saw in the first half and
especially in the second quarter of thefirst half, obviously, is that no

(12:03):
one else really came with Luka Doncisand Kyrie Irving offensively. In fact,
Luka Dodgis and Kyrie Irving had thirtyseven of the fifty one first half points
for the Mavericks, so no onereally outside of those two providing an offensive
lift. And there's a lot ofcriticism of the fact that Jason Kidd decided

(12:24):
to play Tim Hardaway Juniors as muchas he did in Game number three.
In fact, when you look atthe box score and how much Tim Hardaway
Junior played, he played what wouldbe nineteen and a half minutes in Game
three. Now part of that ishe also did Jason Kidd put Tim Hardaway
Junior back in the game when LukaDoncics filed out with four twelve left in

(12:48):
the fourth quarter. And I wantto put a pin on that for just
a second, because as much asthe Mavericks offense was struggling, one of
the things that Tim Hardaway Junior hasalways been known for is his ability to
get up shots. And if you'relooking for a reason why Jason Kidd had
Tim Hardaway Junior in the game insteadof Dante ExHAM or Jaydon Hardy or whatever

(13:11):
the case may be, because wedid not see a lot of Derek Jones
Junior in this game. In fact, Derrick Jones Junior played just fifteen minutes
in Game three, and that normallyis not what happens for him at being
a starter on this team. Butlooks like Jason Kidd was searching for something
offensively and trying to push any kindof button that he had left because we

(13:33):
are at the point, unfortunately,where it seems like the Mavericks are run
out of adjustments to be able totry and stop this Boston Celtics team,
and it felt like this was thefinal move that Jason Kidd had to resort
to in order to try to findsome offense because he has not played Tim
Hardaway Junior in significant minutes. Infact, THJ hasn't made a shot since

(13:56):
May the eighteenth, So that justgives you an idea about the level of
desperation that Jason Kidd must have feltthat he had to turn to in order
to insert Tim Hardaway Junior into theline. Because one of the things that
we have not had to see forthe Mavericks throughout the course of this postseason
is him have to use that finalmove, that final chess piece to try
and make an adjustment to a teamthey haven't had to do that because of

(14:20):
the way that they've been able tohandle their business. Obviously against the Los
Angeles Clippers, and then the OklahomaCity Thunder and then the Minnesota Timberwolves doing
them and closing them out in fivegames. Now you've had to see the
Mavericks throw all the types of adjustmentsthat they had under at their disposal,
and unfortunately they had to go tothe one that they really probably didn't want

(14:43):
to have to use in Tim HardiwayJunior, and unfortunately it did not work
out for him at all, infact, going oh a five from the
field and what was of three fromthe three point line. So for folks
who were upset at the fact thatJason kidd played Tim Hartiwaze, I'm looking
at it from the perspective of itmight have been the last thing that Jason

(15:05):
kidds could try to do to createsome kind of offense outside of Luca and
Kyrie, because when you look atthe second quarter, the Mavericks went on
what was a three minute field goaldrought before Kyrie Irving knocked in a three
pointer midway through the first quarter togive the Mavericks what was a thirty six
thirty five lead at that point,and that's when Kyrie started to heat up.

(15:26):
He had eleven of his twenty firsthalf points in that second quarter,
really getting going from the three pointline, not only the three pointer that
he had to give the mavers abrief lead at thirty six thirty five with
six thirteen left in the second quarter. He hit another one to put the
Mavericks back out front forty one toforty with four to fifteen lefts in the
first half. Then he got thetwenty points, hitting his third straight three

(15:48):
to give the Maverage what was afour point lead at the time at forty
four to forty with three forty oneleft in the first half. So Kyrie
Irving, who hadn't made a threein the first two games games of the
NBA Finals, really got cooking fromthe three point line, especially in that
first half, and they needed histhree point shooting, especially the way that

(16:08):
the Boston Celtics continue to get upshots. You look at what happened in
the second quarter based on some ofthe numbers there. While yes, Boston
took fourteen, they only made four. The Mavericks took six and made three,
So they were able to keep upfrom a three point perspective, yes,
with less attempts, but also makinghalf of the ones that they took

(16:30):
and Boston. As you will knowlater on in the game, as they
continued to take three after three afterthree, that is what they want to
do. But the Mavericks, Ithought, led by Kyrie Irvings aggressiveness was
particularly good in the first half,but they couldn't get anyone else to come
with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.From a scoring perspective, Derek Live would

(16:52):
get a dunk off of a PJ. Washington assist. They made it fifty
to forty eight lates in that firsthalf. But when you look at what
they were able to do, theMavericks got a lot out of Kyrie Irving.
They shot forty percent in that secondquarter. For Irving was the one
setting a tone in the first halfwith the scoring ability, and even with
them being only up by one,you could feel and I could see it

(17:15):
on my timeline where there was alittle bit of trepidation about the fact that,
yeah, Luke and Kyrie were cookingin that first half, but no
one else really was able to buildon that offensively. And Luca, as
we go through his numbers as wego through the rest of the show,
really started to struggle after his firstseven shots in fact, Luca started five

(17:36):
of seven from the game, butwhen you look at his final numbers and
the way that he shot the ball. Starting five of seven, Luca wind
up going six of his last twentyfor the game. That just gives you
an indication of how poorly he shotthe ball down the stretch, not to
mention filing out obviously in the fourthquarter, and the Mavericks had to play

(18:00):
without him at one point, Doncismissed six straight shots in the first half
after starting five of seven. TheMavericks, as we mentioned, really played
well in the paint, had thirtyof their fifty one first half points in
the paint, making it a pointof emphasis to attack the middle of the
lane and in the paint area withoutchristophs Porzingis, and they were able to
do that. So the Mavericks areup by one going into the second half.

(18:22):
But the Celtics turned this game aroundin the third quarter, as they
started a perfect seven of seven fromthe field. They went on what was
a fourteen to eight start to beginthe period, using an eight to zero
run in the middle of that totake a sixty six to fifty nine lead.
After they were down fifty nine tofifty eight with nine and a half

(18:45):
minutes left in the third. Theymaintained that eight point lead with just three
and a half minutes left as JalenBrown and Jason Tatum got things going in
at that third quarter. They combinedfor eighteen of the first twenty three points
of that period for Boston. Andthis is where the duo that has been
so good throughout the postseason for theCeltics, they were able to put their

(19:08):
stamp on this game. And we'veseen time and time again, and you
saw it in the fourth quarter aswell. When the Celtics needed a bucket,
they turned to Jalen Brown to stopa run. He hit that bucket
in the fourth quarter with a minuteleft to put them back up by four
to basically seal the game for Boston, which we'll get to in a little
bit, but I use that asan example because this duo, who combined

(19:32):
for sixty one points in Game numberthree, was the difference. And you
say, Kevin well Luca was aplus nine, Jason Tatum was a minus
four. But guess who finished theentirety of the game with only two personal
fouls. Yeah, that was JasonTatum. Jylen Brown only had three fouls
in the game. My point istheir stars were available and have learned throughout

(19:55):
the course of their careers, notonly having lost in the NBA Finals a
couple of years, but learning throughthe battles that they've gone through to order
to get to this point, thatthey've learned how to sacrifice and remain available
and do what they've had to doto be there for their teammates. But
back to that third quarter, theystarted off extremely well. In fact,
the Celtics outscored the Mavericks thirty fiveto nineteen in that third quarter and really

(20:22):
took it to the Mavericks. Bythe time we get to the end of
the third the Mavericks, who hadled by one going into the period,
found themselves down by fifteen at theend of three. That's because the Celtics
went hot from three, going fiveof eleven from downtown and shot sixty five
percent from the field. Jalen Brownhad fifteen points by himself. Luca and

(20:45):
Kyrie combined for fourteen points in thatthird quarter alone. In fact, they
had fourteen of the nineteen points,again underscoring what was a difficult night for
everyone else outside of Luca and Kyrie, and it's maybe why Jason Kidd felt
like he had to turn to TimHardaway Junior. When we say, Kevin,
he's turned to Jaydon Hardy, He'sturned to Dante Exum. He should

(21:07):
have went with those options more thanhe did. Tim Hardaway Jr. And
I don't necessarily disagree with you.I'm just telling you that might have been
some of the logic that Jason Kiddwas utilizing. Before we get to the
fourth quarter, let's hear from KyrieIrving and what he had to say postgame
about his thoughts on how things wentdown, especially with what the Mavericks were

(21:30):
facing in Game three of the NBAFinals. Take a listen, Dwayne Price
math dot Com. Kyrie, whenLuca filed out, what was the mindset
of the team, And also,did you feel like at that time you
had to take over the game?I mean, I don't think I really
had a choice. You know,it was unfortunate that the foul was called.

(21:51):
You know, Luca picked up hisfifth and sixth and I think in
a matter of a three minute spanor two minutes span, so it's tough,
but we still had to figure outa way to win the basketball game.
We put our best foot forward,especially being down twenty one. You
know, we easily could have packedup and folded, but we didn't give
up. We kept playing and theguys that were out there, we kept
competing and felt like we gave ourselvesa chance to win down the stretch.

(22:14):
They obviously made some big plays,some big shots, so we gotta give
them credit. But we got toplay the way we played, you know,
being down twenty one the whole entiregame, playing with that pace,
playing with that pride, you know, that's what's got us here today.
But when you're going to get somegood, juggernaut offensive team like the Boss
Celtists, gonna make you pay formistakes and you gotta give them credit.

(22:36):
So that is Kyrie Irving post gamethree, discussing obviously what went down as
far as the Mavericks and the Celticswere concerned, and now moving forward,
what they'd look forward to in Gamefour, which we'll discuss here and just
a little bit. But as wego to the fourth quarter, and obviously
this is the quarter that's going tocontinue to be talked about, we mentioned

(22:56):
how well the Celtics were able toplay in that third quarter, out scoring
the Mavericks by sixteen, and thatwas a decisive quarter of the game,
but the Mavericks found themselves. TheCeltics started the second half on a forty
one to nineteen run outscoring the Maveragsby sixteen in that third period, and
then opening up the fourth quarter hittingback to back threes by Drew Holliday and

(23:21):
Derrick White to be able to getthem up by twenty one less than a
minute endto the period, forcing aMavericks timeout. Now the Mavericks, who
were able to get themselves to climbback into it. They ended a Celtics
seven oh run with a Kyrie Irvingjumper and make it seventy eight to sixty
seven with a minute fifty left inthe third and PJ. Washington knocked down

(23:44):
a three pointer to make it aten point deficit. But as we mentioned,
the Celtics were able to be upby fifteen, and then they immediately
put the pedal to the medal withback to back threes by excuse me,
Jalen Brown and Derrick White, whomade the MAVs force a timeouts to the
minute end of the period again,Celtics up by twenty one at that point
ninety one to seventy less than aminute in. But then the Mavericks finally

(24:08):
started to wake up, and itwas with the others other than Kyrie Irving
and Luka Doncis who started to contributeto chip in to what would be eventually
a twenty two to two run toget it within one with three thirty seven
left in the game. Now,part of that is Luka Doncic, as

(24:30):
we have mentioned, found out withfour to twelve left in the fourth quarter,
and let's stop there, Luka doncihas picked up four of his six
files in the fourth quarter, notsomething that we really ever have seen before.
In fact, Luca detailing how,yeah, I don't think I've ever
had that happen to me before.But at the same time, no matter
how you may feel about the callsthat are going with you or going against

(24:53):
you, you have to be availablein a do or die situation where your
team is on the brink of facingelimination. You've got to be smarter and
find a way to remain on thefloor. Yes, with even some of
the difficult calls that may have notbeen there, and not using that as
an excuse after the game, sayingwe weren't allowed to be as physical as

(25:15):
we were normally able to be.You've got to adjust and to adapt,
and more importantly, with the callsaren't going you way, get up off
the floor, get back on theother end, and be able to ensure
you're not hurting your teammates, becauseseveral things can be true at once when
it comes to the brilliance of LukaDoncic, which is he's a fantastic basketball

(25:36):
player, a five time first teamAll NBA selection, the most points,
rebounds and assists in a season sincethe merger, scoring champion, he is
a Rookie of the Year. He'shad all of these accomplishments, more so
than what Carmelo Anthony has ever accomplishedin his career. My point being,
with all the accolades and all thetremendous player that he is, there are

(26:00):
still very much holes in his gamethat have to be rectified and things that
are well within his control. Whenwe talk about on the defensive end,
where the Celtics have hunted him relentlesslyin this postseason, in this series.
You saw it in Game two thirteenblowbys that Luka Doncics allowed. Wasn't much

(26:21):
better in Game three, even withthe offensive brilliance that you saw in putting
Al Horford and Jason Tatum and attimes Drew Holliday and others on skates with
his ability, even with how hobbledhe is, that amount of effort on
the offensive end has to be shownon the defensive end, and we have
seen plenty throughout this postseason the amountof defensive effort that Luca Doncis has put

(26:44):
forward. You go back to theClipper series and the way that he sat
down and guarded in that series againstthe likes of James Harden and others.
We know that he's capable of it. So part of me believes that it's
not just the inability to defend whatis a duo in terms of Jalen Brown
and Jason Tatum, but obviously thephysical toll that he has started to endure

(27:07):
throughout the course of an eighty twogame regular season, a deep postseason run
culminating in an NBA Finals run,and the amount of injuries that are taking
his toll on him. Not tooffer that as an excuse, but as
a legitimate reason to why we arenot seeing the best version of himself on
the defensive end. While even stillhim trying to put forward some kind of
the effort, which at times hasnot been as consistent as we had seen

(27:30):
earlier in the postseason. But thatdoes not excuse the fact that you've got
to be smarter down the stretch foryour team to be available. Because for
him to have been sitting on thesidelines with four minutes left in the game
and watching his team try to makea comeback to finish it off in order
to try to be a Celtics teamthat's been a juggernaut all season long,

(27:52):
and honestly, it wasn't gonna happen, and Luka Doncic knows that he fouled
out with four to twelve left thefourth, the Mavericks were down by three
ninety three to ninety. Kyrie Irvingis able to get a bucket to be
able to get things where they arethere, as they were able to get
a jumper from Kyrie to make itninety three to ninety two with three thirty
seven left in the game. Butagain the Celtics, doing what they've done

(28:17):
all year long and especially in thisfinals, they responded with a quick five
zero run. They got a secondchance basket from Jalen Brown, who again
was the stopper. Anytime the Celticshave needed a bucket to stop a run
by the Mavericks, Jalen Brown hasbeen the guy to do it. And
then Derrick White hit a three pointerthat had the lead back up to six
at ninety eight to ninety two withtwo and forty eight left. The Mavericks

(28:40):
were able to get it back downto two with a minute twenty left after
a Derek Lively dunk, but theCeltics got another Jalen Brown jumper with a
minute left to put it back upby four and effectively seal it. Tim
Harnoway Junior missed a three pointer withnineteen seconds left that could have gotten it
within three. Celtics sit Free throwsdown the stress to steal it to be

(29:00):
able to win it by seven points. But again this goes back to the
fact that your superstar was not onthe floor, and the criticisms that are
fair when it comes to him isthat his complaining and griping to the reps
hurts his team. At times,him yelling over to the bench, you
better bleep and challenge that call whenit was clearly a blocking foul. He

(29:23):
was not in a guarding position tobe able to initiate a charge there on
Jalen Brown. It was the rightcall based off of what had happened in
that play, no matter how youmay feel about it. But at the
same time, you cannot put yourselfin that position. I understand trying to
make a play there, but you'vegot to be thinking about being on the

(29:44):
floor, especially in a tight ballgame. But this came down to the
fact that Luca and Kyrie carry theoffensive load as much as they did,
but they could not get enough fromanyone else. And then you start looking
at the specific numbers of this game. Look, Boston shot forty six three
pointers, they made seventeen of them. Mavericks shot twenty five and made nine

(30:07):
of them. When you look athow Boston outscored the Mavericks from the three
point line seventeen times three, youcan do the math that is fifty one
points fifty one to what was ninetimes three, which is twenty seven.
The Mavericks got outscored by twenty fourfrom the three point line. That disparity

(30:30):
is what was a difference in thegame, and that disparity came in the
third quarter. As we mentioned,where the Celtics went five of eleven from
downtown. They have bent the mathand found ways to get up as many
threes as they could, getting upanother forty six in Game three, and
that is what they want to do, no matter who is playing or not
playing. Christophs Porzingis wasn't available,but they still found the way to get

(30:53):
forty six three pointers up because thatis what they're going to do. They
have not been plays out of theircomfort zone in terms of what they want
to do, both offensively and defensively, and they have dominated the Mavericks,
holding into under one hundred points ineach of the first three games of this
series. And even the poor shootinggame from three that the Celtics had,

(31:14):
they made enough timely threes down thestretch to be able to win games.
And that is the difference right now, the poise of the Celtics doing what
they do regardless of what the Mavericksare trying to dictate to them. And
most importantly, the Celtics are thebetter team in this series. We knew
that we believed coming in when peoplewere asking me that my prediction about this

(31:37):
series has said my head is tellingme that the Celtics will win this series
in six games. My heart tellingme and hoping that the Mavericks will win
this game, win this series,I's to say in seven games. But
through the first three games, andwhat became clear and evident in Game three
is that the Celtics are playing thekind of championship level basketball. Even when

(31:59):
they allowed their foot to come offthe gas a little bit and the Mavericks
took advantage of it by playing withmore pace to get themselves in it,
the Celtics were able to hold themoff, and most importantly, your superstar
wasn't available. Again. You canlevel the fair criticisms on Doncics based off
the way that he performed inexcusable thathe was unavailable for his team having been

(32:22):
disqualified with his six fouls. Butnow going into Game four, the Mavericks
don't have time to lament on whathappened to them in Game three because now
they've got to try to save theirseason, to try to somehow get this
thing back to Boston. Larry O'BrienTrophy will be in the building on Friday

(32:42):
night. The question is will theMavericks keep the Celtics from taking it with
them back to Boston as champion,or will the Mavericks find a way to
get themselves to a Game five andgo back to Boston with them and be
able to try and extend this seriesas long as they can. That is

(33:04):
up to the collective will of thisteam, but most importantly it's Superstar and
Luca Dodge too. Regardless of howthis Finals ends, this is going to
be a true learning experience for himto be able to learn and understand how
to deal with your emotions and managingthat through an NBA Finals. Luka donc
is talking about the whistles that didand didn't go his way in Game number

(33:28):
three. Luca, what did youthink of the whistles that would against you
in the fourth quarter? I mean, no, I don't know. We
couldn't play physical, so I don'tknow. I don't want to say nothing,
but you know, six following theNBA Finals, basically, I'm like

(33:52):
this, come on, man,better than that. You know, you
guys came out cooking in the inthe first quarter, I think twenty five
points to like seven minutes. Whathappened to make you know, to bog
down the offense? You know,what happened to make score more difficult there.
I think we should just kept playing, you know, with the same

(34:15):
energy, you know, keep thesame people in. We were rolling down
there. Well, then they cameback, you know, at some point
we were down twenty one to twoin the fourth quarter and we came back.
So we're gonna still believe till theend. Brad Towns of Dallas Morning
News. We know you you've onlyfiled out three times in the NBA.

(34:35):
Have you ever had four fouls calledon you in that short of a span?
So do you ever recall having fourfouls on you being called in that
short of a span? No,really thinking that never happened to me.
I remember. So Luca and theMavericks have got to regruit to find a
way to stave off elimination in Gamefour. They'll have a day to do

(34:59):
so as they get back on thepractice floor on Thursday to try to prepare
for Game number four and prevent theCeltics from celebrating on their home floor.
And unfortunate turn of events as theMaveris will celebrating the thirteen year anniversary of
their first championship in franchise history withthe twenty eleven team in the house,
guys like JJ Berea, Sean Marrionobviously Dirt Noavisky in the house as well,

(35:23):
but they were unable to get awin in front of what was a
rackous crowd at the American Airlines Center. But a lot of discourse will be
coming out of this game, someof it reasonable, some of it not,
and the nastiness of which it comeswith and when you're dealing at this
type of level trying to achieve championshipsuccess, which Luka Doncis is trying to

(35:45):
learn how to deal with for thevery first time. But the series continues
with Game four on Friday. Wewill see if the Mavericks can find a
way again to stave off elimination againstthe Bosses Celtics. Otherwise what has been
a magical season could be coming toan end very quickly. But that's why

(36:07):
they continue to play the games.And you've got to try to make history,
kind of like how that Red Soxteam that one time when they took
out the New York Yankees coming backat seven games if they were down three
games to none. I don't knowif necessarily this is going to be the
time around, but hey, it'shappened before. Why not it happened again

(36:28):
again. That's why they play thegames. This has been Inside the Masks.
Iain appreciate you joining me here forthe latest episode of Inside the mask
Make sure your Dallas subscribed to thepodcast. Wherever you get your podcast for
free, give it a five starrating, write a review for it while
you're there. Of course, I'myour Maveris prim post game hosting the Dallas
Maveris Radio Network. You can catchme every broadcast for your Dallas Mavericks.
We will have the pregame show forGame four on Friday night, beginning at

(36:52):
seven pm, with tip off atseven thirty. In the meantime, please
follow me at Kevin Gray Sports.I'll be all over Media Day on third
Thursday, bringing you coverage and analysis, podcasts, everything else as we get
you ready for Game four of theNBA Finals here on Inside the Maps.
Again, thank you so much forjoining us here on this latest episode of

(37:13):
Inside the MAVs, presented by Aura