BOSTON — For most of the NBA’s regular season, there was little doubt as to who was the best, deepest team. The same could be said for much of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Jaylen Brown led the Boston Celtics with 22 points, Kristaps Porziņģis made his triumphant return from a calf injury with 20 points and the league’s No. 1 overall seed easily dispatched the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 on Thursday night.
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“He’s been a big, big reason why we’ve been the best team in basketball,” Brown said of Porziņģis, one of two huge additions the Celtics made in the offseason after losing in Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference finals.
Game 2 is at 8 p.m. (ET) Sunday at TD Garden. The Celtics, seeking a league-record 18th championship, have won eight consecutive playoff games, dating to Game 3 of their second-round series against the Cavaliers.
Boston, which won 64 regular-season games, seven more than the next closest team and 14 better than the Mavericks, led Dallas by as many as 29 points in the first half and closed the third quarter on a 14-2 run to remove most doubt as to the outcome of Game 1.
“I liked the way we handled their run,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, whose timeout with 4 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third quarter helped stop the Mavs from building momentum. “(Runs) are gonna happen, you’re not gonna stop that. You just have to have the poise and toughness to work through it.”
Luka Dončić, the league’s regular-season scoring champ, paced the Mavericks with 30 points and 10 rebounds but managed just one assist — indicative of a tough night for the Dallas offense, which failed to move the ball and were forced into too many difficult shots.
Kyrie Irving, the former Celtics player who was booed all night, shot just 6 of 19 from the field for 12 points, while missing all five 3-point tries. The Mavs managed just nine assists (Irving had two) for the game and registered only five assists through three quarters. P.J. Washington, added by the Mavs at the trade deadline, had 14 points, outscoring Irving by two.
“They mostly play one-on-one. They send a lot of help, so that’s why,” Dončić said, explaining the Mavs’ iso-heavy offense.
Added Mazzulla: “That’s just good individual defense. I thought our defensive mindset, our defensive execution, our defensive game plan, our positioning, we had the right intentions, and I thought we played physical, for the most part, defending without fouling.”
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Porziņģis, the former Mavericks player who Dallas traded at the 2022 deadline, was playing his first game since April 29 because of a calf strain suffered in Game 4 of the first round after missing 10 games and 38 days. Thursday’s game was just the second of Porziņģis’ career, and the first since the 2016-17 season, in which he came off the bench.
“The adrenaline was pumping through my veins,” Porziņģis said. “I did everything I could to prepare for this moment.”
About coming off the bench, Porziņģis said he was “fine with it” and “this situation made sense.”
7 footer coming through 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZTzvGEPEDV
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 7, 2024
Entering the game with less than eight minutes left in the first quarter, donning a long compression sleeve on his right leg to protect the calf, Porziņģis registered eight points in his first five minutes. He denied Josh Green’s dunk attempt — the first of his three impressive blocks — and finished 8-of-13 shooting with two 3s.
“That’s the KP that helped us get to where we are today,” said Mazzulla, who gave little indication he is about to move Porziņģis back into the starting lineup.
Al Horford, 38, remained Boston’s starting center and contributed 10 points with seven boards.
Brown, the MVP of the Eastern Conference finals, dominated in all facets. He had three blocks, including Irving’s dunk and layup attempts in the third quarter, and added three steals and six rebounds.
For more on Game 1 of the NBA Finals, follow The Athletic’s live blog.
Jayson Tatum, a first-team All-NBA performer and the face of the Celtics, contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds. Boston didn’t need any of Tatum’s heroics due to the balance restored by Porziņģis’ return. Jrue Holiday, Boston’s other big offseason addition, added 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
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“I think this is the best team in the NBA and they are good for a reason,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said.
Derrick White added 15 points for the Celtics, who bombed away as a team with 16 3s on 41 tries — continuing another trend from the regular season in which Boston was the league’s top 3-point shooting team. The Mavericks were 7 of 27 from beyond the arc.
“We’ve got to take those 3s away — that’s what hurt us the most,” Dončić said. “I think they are the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA, so sometimes it’s really hard to take those away. Especially when they have five guys out and they can all shoot. Obviously, we’ve got to make more. We didn’t make enough shots today to beat them. But we’ve got to be better on both ends.”
Doris Burke, ESPN NBA analyst, made history Thursday by becoming the first woman to call a men’s major sports championship game (NBA Finals, World Series, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl).
Required reading
- Celtics vs. Mavericks: How this intriguing NBA Finals matchup will be won on the court
- Why Celtics say they’re ready for the NBA Finals this time around
- How Kristaps Porziņģis’ cold, ‘lonely’ winter made him Celtics’ key to success
- Can Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving hold off inevitable Celtics in NBA Finals?
- Nico Harrison’s deep belief in Kyrie Irving trade paying off for Mavs in NBA Finals run
- Boston fans have booed former stars. Kyrie Irving’s return is different
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
Joe Vardon is a senior NBA writer for The Athletic, based in Cleveland. Follow Joe on Twitter @joevardon
