BOSTON (WHDH) - Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown shared a hug on the court in Dallas Wednesday, moments after their team held on to beat the Mavericks and draw within one win of an elusive NBA title.
In postgame comments, Tatum explained what happened in the moment.
“I just told him I was proud of him and he said the same thing — that we’ve got to keep fighting. We can’t relax,” Tatum told reporters. “That was basically the conversation.”
The Celtics shared video of the moment on X with the simple caption, “One step closer.”
“I don’t even really have words,” Brown said in his own postgame remarks. “It kind of doesn’t even feel real and I’m just trying to stay in the moment. It feels great to be up 3-0 in this series. But the job’s not done.”
Dominant on the road this postseason, the Celtics fell flat in the first half of Game 3 against the Mavericks. They eventually rallied, though, riding a 20-5 run to a double digit lead in the third quarter.
Dallas mounted its own comeback effort late in the game. But Boston managed to eek out the 106-99 win.
Mavericks stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined for a series-best 62 points.
On Boston’s side of the ball, Tatum scored 31 points while Brown scored 30. Together, the pair became the first duo in team history to each record at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists in an NBA Finals game.
Under scrutiny after scoring just 16 points in Game 1 and 18 points in Game 2, Tatum this week said “I understand that I do need to be more efficient.”
After a strong performance Wednesday, with six rebounds and five assists alongside his 31 points, Tatum cast his attention to the work ahead.
“We’re not necessarily saying ‘One more,’ or anything like that,” he said. “We’re just saying ‘However long it takes.’ Nobody is relaxed. Nobody is satisfied. We got to keep fighting. We can’t relax.”
“The game of basketball is about runs and this is at the highest level,” he said. “But, if you want to be a champion, you have to be resilient in those moments. And we showed that tonight.”
Drafted in 2016 and 2017, respectively, Brown and Tatum are tied for the fourth most playoff games by a duo without a championship.
After Wednesday’s excitement, the pair have the chance to earn their first rings with a win in Game 4 on Friday.
If the Mavericks stave off elimination, the series will return to Boston for Game 5 on Monday.
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