Tonight at 8:30 PM EST, the Dallas Mavericks will look to extend the NBA Finals once again, as they take on the mighty Boston Celtics at the TD Garden arena.

Led by superstars Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks are coming off a dominant Game 4 showing, in which they defeated the Celtics 122-84. However, they still have plenty of ground to make up, as Boston still leads the series 3-1.

Even though they are down 3-1, the Mavericks are actually outscoring the Celtics 408-402, thanks to the 38-point domination in Game 4. It was the third-largest victory in NBA Finals history. Bad news for Boston: no team has ever won the Finals after losing by 35+ in a game in the series.

On the other hand, no team in any playoff series has ever come back after being down 3-0 to win, meaning history will be made no matter who wins

A constant topic of discussion over the course of this series has been the scrutiny of Dončić’s play. Though he showed much improvement in terms of his effort and defense in Game 4, those two issues were called into question in the first three games.

A major reason for the Celtics’ offensive success in the first three games was because of Dončić’s lack of defensive prowess. Any chance they got, Boston would give the ball to whoever was being guarded by him and attack. He is allowing a 67.7% blow-by percentage in the series, the highest in a playoff series in the last 10 years.

Another issue with Dončić has been his nonstop complaining to officials every game. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Dallas has begged him to finish his never-ending onslaught of screaming at the referees every chance he gets, but to no avail; he hasn’t let up.

In Game 4, he showed improvement, due in part to the authoritative victory. If the Mavericks want to avoid elimination, he will need to continue to show that level of control and effort.

Despite the commanding Game 4 showing, experts are still favoring the Celtics in Game 5, especially thanks to Boston’s NBA-best 37-4 home record in the regular season.

The spread is 6.5 with a total of 210 points. The Dallas money line is +210 while Boston’s is -258. The Celtics are given a 67.6% chance of victory, according to ESPN analytics.

It will take a gargantuan effort to come back and win the series, but having a once-in-a-lifetime player such as Dončić, as well as a player with plenty of Finals experience like Irving, should give Mavericks fans hope that history is within reach.