The Boston Celtics look to clinch the series over the Brooklyn Nets in game four Monday night and advance to the conference semifinals.
Boston took a 3-0 lead over Brooklyn with a 109-103 victory Saturday night. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 39 points, and Bruce Brown led the Nets with 26 points.
All 143 teams to take a 3-0 series lead have gone on to win, with 140 teams going on to finish off their opponents in six games or fewer. Only three times has a team trailing 3-0 gone on to even force a Game 7 before losing, most recently the Portland Trail Blazers in 2003 against the Dallas Mavericks.
No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series, the task now before the Nets.
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If the Celtics pull off another win Monday night, they advance to the conference semifinals. The game starts at 7 p.m. in Brooklyn.
Fans can expect to see Rob Williams back on the court. He returned in game three after being out for more than three weeks due to surgery. Celtics coach Ime Udoka said effort is pushing the team forward.
“I think 70-75% of it is effort and that’s trickled down throughout the group," Udoka said. "And I think everybody takes those individual match-ups and that mentality to heart and then everybody holds each other accountable as well as coaching staff.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
