Boston Celtics Cruise to Victory Over Dallas Mavericks in Game One of NBA Finals
Boston - The wait is finally over. TD Garden was rocking from all of the sounds in the arena. There are so many storylines in this series to keep an eye out for. Kyrie Irving returning to Boston after spending two seasons in a Celtics uniform, Kristaps Porzingis also playing against his former team, and whether or not the Boston Celtics can finally get it done. The 71st NBA Finals game played in Boston and Game One of the NBA Finals was a spectacle and a much-deserved win for the Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics’ eighth straight win and snapped the Mavericks road winning streak in these playoffs.
The Mavs and Celtics were playing with extreme focus to start the game. Both squads were going basket for basket, neither team built a lead larger than four points in the opening six minutes. When Porzingis entered the game off the bench, after the first media timeout, the Garden lit up with excitement. After missing the entire Eastern Conference Semifinals and Eastern Conference Finals, he is finally back on the floor for the Celtics. He immediately made his presence known on both sides of the court. His long 7’2 frame made a daunting presence while defending the paint and his long arms made it impossible to guard his shot on offense. That didn’t stop Luka Doncic from working his magic. With P.J. Washington picking up two early fouls, Doncic was required to become even more of an offensive threat.
The impact that Porzingis makes cannot be summarized. It doesn't matter where the unicorn is on the floor, he finds a way to make plays. Since Porzingis entered the game, the Celtics went on a 23-5 run. His presence on the floor alone makes his squad infinitely times better. In just seven minutes of action, Porzingis had 11 points, three rebounds, and two blocks. By the end of the quarter, the Celtics had built a 17-point lead with the score of 37-20. Irving was the worst +/- of the quarter with a -18, not something the Mavericks were looking for from their star player.
To open up the second quarter, Jaylen Brown bullied Daniel Gafford on the way to the basket, dunking the ball on the top of his head. The Eastern Conference Finals MVP has had several highlight real dunks this postseason, but this one is at the top. There was nothing the Mavericks could do to slow down the Celtic avalanche. This was an unbelievable start from the seventeen-time NBA champions who were on track to bring number 18 into the rafters. After nine days off, the Celtics had built the perfect plan to shut down the Mavericks. It didn’t matter how or who had the ball, they weren’t going to score against the Celtics. Same with the Mavericks’ defense, no matter who was defending they were not stopping anyone. Porzingis is now the eighth player in NBA Finals history to score 18 or more points in less than 10 shots in the first half. He is also the first player this century to score 10 points and block two shots in a single quarter. Luka Doncic was the only Mav that was able to score somewhat consistently, shooting 7/14 from the floor with 17 first-half points.
The first half was purely dominated by the Boston Celtics. They were leading in almost every statistical category. They shot 54.5% from the floor vs the Mavericks poor 43.9%. One of the biggest variances came from beyond the arc as the Celtics outscored the Mavericks by 24 points from the three-point line. They also outrebounded them 24-16, an underrated statistic that is very important when playing winning basketball. To bring light to underrated statistics, the Celtics also tripled the amount of assists the Mavericks had in the first half, 15-5. All in all, the Celtics had outscored the Mavericks again in the second quarter to build a 63-42 lead heading into the break.
Derrick White nailed his third three-pointer of the game to open the third quarter. This was the 12th made three-pointer of the game, something the Celtics are used to reaching. Meanwhile, the Mavs were starting to pick up their focus on rebounding and didn’t allow the Celtics as many second-chance points. Luka and Kyrie were starting to do their thing, but it didn’t last long as Joe Mazzulla called timeout. You can do so much to limit Luka and this Mavs squad. He outscored the entire Celtics team through the opening eight minutes in the third quarter. With 4:27 left on the clock in the third quarter, this tough Maverick team had narrowed the lead to just eight points. They had nearly eliminated a 29-point deficit.
With Dereck Lively II picking up his fifth foul, it was much easier for the Celtics to score. After going on a 8-0 run, Jason Kidd was forced to call a timeout once the lead got back up to 16. Jayson Tatum and company found their rhythm once again and it was all but over. Jaylen Brown had three great defensive stops during their run to end the quarter, which really set the tone. He was not shy in his offensive game either, blowing a kiss into the crowd after he sunk a deep three. At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics shook off the Mavericks comeback and rebuilt their lead to 86-66.
To harp on the Celtics defense even more, Kristaps Porzingis got his third block, ninth as a team, of the night as Derrick Jones Jr. tried to dunk over him. Like almost everything else tonight, it didn’t go according to the Mavericks’ plan. Even with Tatum having an off night shooting-wise, he got his double-double and was only five assists away from a triple-double. With five minutes remaining, the Mavericks had substituted their starters out of the game as their hopes of a comeback had depleted. Meanwhile, Luka’s 30-point double-double was the first one since Tim Duncan did it back in 1999.
With the final score of 107-89, the Celtics took Game One of the NBA Finals and are three wins away from being crowned champions. It was an all-around beatdown. The top six players for the Celtics all reached double figures and seven players with multiple three-pointers, an NBA Finals record. The Celtics even managed to have more blocks than Mavs had assists. This team broke history tonight, multiple times, and they will look to hang banner number 18 in the TD Garden rafters soon.
