The Dallas Mavericks kept their NBA Finals hopes alive with a 122-84 victory to deny the Boston Celtics a clean sweep in the best-of-seven championship series.
Luka Doncic top-scored with 29 points while Kyrie Irving added 21 as the Mavericks ended their opponents’ 10-game play-off winning streak and claimed the third-largest win in Finals history.
But they still have a mountain to climb as they try to become the first team to come from 3-0 down and win an NBA play-off series, with game five to come in Boston on Tuesday (01:30 BST).
“We knew we have to get it, we can’t lose no more,” said the Slovenian. “As we always say, we’re going to believe until the end.
“I think our energy was way higher. Everybody was locked in defensively.”
Doncic and Irving helped their side go 34-21 up after the first quarter, and they dominated defensively after that to lead 61-35 at the break.
The Mavs were up 92-57 when the pair left the game with one minute and 29 seconds left in the third quarter.