The Boston Celtics fended off a furious Dallas Mavericks rally, securing a 106-99 victory on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. Jayson Tatum scored 31 points adding six rebounds and five assists. Jaylen Brown added 30 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.

Brown also contributed eight rebounds and eight assists, extending Boston’s playoff winning streak to a franchise-record 10 games. The Celtics remain undefeated on the road this postseason, improving to 7-0. With a win on Friday in Dallas, they could clinch their record 18th NBA championship, breaking their tie with the Lakers.

Boston nearly let a 21-point lead slip away with 11 minutes to go, but Tatum stayed poised. “Not really trying to look too much into it,” Tatum said. “The game of basketball is about runs. It’s never going to go like you expected. If you want to be a champion, you have to be resilient in those situations, and we did that tonight.”

The Celtics overcame the absence of Kristaps Porzingis, who was ruled out due to a rare tendon injury in his lower left leg. Boston is 10-1 in these playoffs without him.

The Celtics understand while history is on their side, they have to stay hungry to close out the series and win the ultimate prize, even if their fans were loudly celebrating at American Airlines Center.

“You’ve got to understand we are just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable than they are,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “When you understand that you’re vulnerable and your back’s against the wall, you’ve got to fight. And so that’s the mindset that we have to have.”

The series continues on Friday in Game 4, with the Celtics having a chance to close it out.

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