Thanks to a huge return from Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics claimed a huge 107-89 win over the Mavericks in Game 1
The Boston Celtics, behind a huge return from Kristaps Porzingins, made a statement early in the NBA Finals.
The Celtics, who broke open a 29-point lead in the first half, cruised to a dominant 107-89 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night at TD Garden. The Celtics have now won eight straight games, and they’ve won every Game 1 they’ve played this postseason.
Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, on the other hand, are now playing from behind in the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance since it won the championship with Dirk Nowitzki in 2011. The Mavs had won five straight road games entering Thursday night, too.
Kristaps Porzingis powers huge Celtics run
Porzingis missed Boston’s last 10 games with a calf injury he first sustained in its opening-round series against the Miami Heat.
But after coming off the bench for just the second time in his career, he immediately made up for lost time. Porzingis put up eight points early in the first quarter, including a huge early dunk after he blew past Dereck Lively II and a bucket in the face of Josh Green. That put the Celtics up by double digits and forced an early mavericks timeout in the first period.
He then came out of the timeout, drilled a very deep 3-pointer and immediately came up with a block on the other end to set up another 3-pointer for the Celtics. Just like that, after a 23-5 run, the Celtics were up by 17 points. That marked the largest lead after the first quarter in a Game 1 in NBA Finals history.
Despite the huge deficit early, Dallas started cutting away at Boston’s lead slowly in the third quarter. Then, after a few huge buckets from Kyrie Irving and a clutch 3-pointer from Doncic to cap a 20-6 run, it was suddenly an eight- point game.
That, however, was as close as Dallas got. Boston rallied immediately out of a timeout and ended the period on a 14-2 burst. That gave the Celtics a 20-point lead once again, which was more than enough to push them to the eventual 18-point win.
Porzingis finished with 20 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes. Jaylen Brown led the way with 22 points while shooting 7-of-12 from the field, and Jayson Tatum finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, although he did have six turnovers. The Celtics set an NBA Finals record, too, with seven different players making multiple shots from behind the arc.
Doncic finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mavericks. He shot just 4-of-12 from behind the arc, and he accounted for all but three of Dallas’ made 3-pointers. P.J. Washington added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Irving finished with 12 points. The Mavs’ 89 points were the fewest points they’ve scored this postseason. They only had nine assists as a unit, too. The Celtics, by comparison, had 23 assists and nine blocks.
Though it’s still early – Doncic and Irving are more than capable of keeping the Mavericks in it – the Celtics look like a team poised to run to what would be their 18th championship in franchise history. Sunday’s Game 2 isn’t a must-win for Dallas by any means, but the Mavericks will need to at least keep it close before the series heads to Texas. Otherwise, things could get out of hand quickly.
