Boston complete a 4-1 series win over Cleveland with a 113-98 win before Dallas beat Oklahoma City 104-92.
The Western Conference's top seeds, Oklahoma City, were on the edge of elimination after losing 104-92 at home to Dallas. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 to advance to their third consecutive Eastern Conference finals.
With the aid of Jayson Tatum's 25 points, the Boston Celtics defeated the injury-plagued Cavaliers 4-1 on Wednesday to win the best-of-seven series.
To advance to the NBA Finals, the top seeds in the Eastern Conference will play the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks.
But as Boston kept getting better, Oklahoma City's hopes of making the playoffs are in shambles following their crushing loss to Dallas.
Luka Doncic of the Mavericks led by example, recording a triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists.
The Mavs, who have a 3-2 series lead, can secure a spot in the Western Conference finals by winning Game 6 on Saturday in Dallas.
Doncic stated, "We have one more game to win out of two, and that's it." "It's 3-2, but that doesn't matter. We must complete it and adopt the same mindset.
Doncic was incensed when the Mavs gave up the lead in a Game 4 defeat in Texas on Sunday, but he claimed that a looser strategy was the secret to Wednesday's dominant performance.
Doncic remarked, "I sometimes forget that I love to play basketball; it's what I do." "All I could think about was going out there and playing basketball with a smile on my face."
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 19 points to provide Doncic with offensive support, while three other players scored in double figures.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored thirty points, eight assists, and six rebounds to lead the Thunder in scoring.
‘Battle-tested’ Celtics want to go all the way
Earlier, news that three of Cleveland's top six players—Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Caris LeVert—were sidelined due to injuries dashed the team's aspirations of making a run at winning their series against Boston.
However, Cleveland overcame that disappointment to mount a valiant comeback that saw them close the gap on the Celtics to three points halfway through the fourth quarter.
For Cleveland, Evan Mobley was outstanding, scoring a game-high 33 points, and Marcus Morris Sr. chipped in with 25 points off the bench.
But just as Boston pulled together a decisive 13-2 run, highlighted by a three-pointer from Tatum, that put them ahead by 14 points at 101-87, the crowd at the TD Garden began to worry if a shocking loss was imminent.
Tatum, who also contributed nine assists and ten rebounds, claimed that despite Cleveland's injured starting lineup, Boston was ready for a dogfight.
Tatum stated, "Anyone who has played in this league knows what happens when somebody's best players are out." "The other men play differently, with a different level of confidence, and with more flexibility.
"We approached this game with the mentality that whatever time it takes, that's how long it takes. We didn't think we would win in the opening or second quarters of the match. We worked it out.
Tatum stated that Boston was now focused on ending their miserable recent record in the Eastern Conference championship game. Since the 2016–17 season, Boston has made five trips to the Eastern Conference finals, losing four of those times.
Tatum stated, "New challenges arise every year." "Myself and the other members of the team have attended the conference finals four or five times.
"We've been in combat. We are aware of the requirements. All we need to do is set aside our personal grievances and work toward overcoming this obstacle.
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