DALLAS — Though Kristaps Porzingis was ruled out from an ankle injury, the Celtics still managed to win Game 3 over the Dallas Mavericks to take a 3-0 lead, 106-99.

For the first two games of the series, it appeared that everyone except Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, however, the duo combined for 61 points on Wednesdays win. Tatum led with 31 points and Brown had 30 points, eight rebounds and assists. White also had 16 points.

After the Celtics went into halftime down 51-50, they went on a third quarter explosion. They won the third quarter 35-19 and with back-to-back three’s to start the fourth quarter, they went up 21 points. However, the Mavs came back storming with their offense thanks to Luka Doncic (27 points) and Kyrie Irving (35 points) who combined for 62 points and helped go on a 12-0 run. Dallas brought it down to one possession with minutes to go, but Luka fouled out with a couple minutes out.

Luka finished the game 27 points and Irving finally came alive with 35 points. However, in the final moments of the game it appeared that Irving began to fade away offensively and started to miss highly-contested shots. Tim Hardaway Jr. finally got some playing time but he didn’t score. P.J. Washington scored 13 points and Dereck Lively Jr. had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Brown made some big baskets in the fourth quarter, whether it was a putback or midrange shot to help keep the lead. Also, it was a team effort as Xavier Tillman Sr. hit a big three-pointer in the corner in the second half and also made key stops. Sam Hauser finished with nine points.

Game 4 will be played at 8:30 PM in Dallas where the Celtics have a chance to sweep.