Duke basketball stars unable to land NBA Finals win despite stellar performances

It was as close to a 'must win' for the Dallas Mavericks as they would get in the NBA Finals and needing a major performance from Duke basketball star Kyrie Irving, the home team nearly got what they were looking for.

Irving exploded in the first half with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and making 4-of-5 attempts from 3-point range after missing all eight 3-pointers he took during the first two games of the series in Boston.

The former Blue Devil scored more points in the first half of Game 3 than he had in all of Game 1 or Game 2.

It gave Dallas a one point lead at halftime, 51-50, but the Celtics would catch fire and put the game seemingly out of reach, leading by 21 points in the early part of the fourth quarter.

However, the Mavericks stormed back to cut its deficit down to one point, 93-92, but Irving was unable to get Dallas across the finish line after Luka Doncic fouled out with 4:12 remaining, watching Boston take a commanding 3-0 series lead with a 106-99 victory.

Dereck Lively's back-to-back dunks brought the Mavericks within two points with less than two minutes to go before a Jaylen Brown jumper pushed the Celtics lead to four and Dallas could never get closer.

Lively also had his best game of the series with 11 points and 13 rebounds off the bench, finishing with a +6 rating. It was the second highest on the team behind Doncic's +9.

Kyrie Irving finished with 35 points, three rebounds, and two assists on 13-of-28 shooting.

As for the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum moves one victory away from his elusive first NBA Title after leading the team with 31 points, six rebounds, and five assists on 11-of-26 shooting.

Game 4 is Friday, June 14 in Dallas at 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC).