BOSTON — Throughout an 82-game regular season, the Boston Celtics were the best team in the NBA and it wasn’t close. In the playoffs, they beat whoever was in front of them, usually handily.
Still, heading into the NBA Finals, there were plenty of doubters — and the Celtics answered them emphatically in Game 1 with an 18-point win that wasn’t that close. It was in garbage time with five minutes to go.
Boston played well on both ends and cruised to a 107-89 win, taking a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 22 points and three blocks. Game 2 is Sunday.
Here are three takeaways from Game 1.
1) Porzingis completes the Celtics
Game 1 changed with 7:17 left in the first quarter — it was a one-point game when Kristaps Porzingis came off the bench to a massive ovation.
“He just went on a run where he just, he hit the three, hit the middy, then ran back, got the block at the rim in transition,” Brown said. “He was just making play after play and it was just like, all right, he’s back, there was no question about it.”
A look at Kristaps Porzingis' BIG first half in his return to the floor 📈 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Wlad63Lgbn
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 7, 2024
Porzingis was always the skeleton key that would unlock the Celtics offense in the Finals, and that showed the second he stepped on the court. Porzingis changed the game because he was hitting shots — he started 3-of-4 — and, more importantly, threw off the Dallas matchups that had worked pretty well up to that point. Dallas’ bigs couldn’t sag off him to protect the paint, and he punished mismatches. Porzingis entered the game with Boston up one and quickly it was 28-18, forcing Jason Kidd to call a timeout. It didn’t matter. Boston started to pull away and never relinquished that lead.
Porzingis finished with 20 points in 21 minutes, shooting 8-of-13 overall with a couple of 3-pointers, plus six boards and three blocks. His strong play continued into the second half — when Dallas cut the Boston 29-point lead down to 8 in the third, Porzingis was a crucial part of turning that around.
Porzingis said he felt good physically, but he hadn’t played in more than a month, and he had questions about how he would feel.
“Tonight was an affirmation to myself, that I’m pretty good [physically], you know?” Porzingis said. “Maybe I’m not perfect, but I’m pretty good and I can play like this and I can definitely add to this team.”
If Porzingis continues to play at this level for the rest of the series, things look much brighter for Boston.
2) Celtics turn Doncic, Irving into scorers, not passers
Luka Doncic is an elite scorer. Kyrie Irving is a bucket-getter of the highest order.
However, what unlocks the Dallas offense, what lifted the team out of the West and into the NBA Finals, was defenses collapsing on Doncic and Irving and them finding open shooters in the corners or bigs crashing the rim for lobs.
Boston didn’t leave Doncic and Irving those options. The Celtics stayed one-on-one mostly with Doncic and Irving, daring the two stars to beat them as scorers. Dallas made one corner 3 all night — and that was in the final minute of the game — and they had no lob dunks through the competitive portion of the game.
“Give the Celtics credit. They did a great job defending, making it tough on us,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “We had some good looks that didn’t go down. We’ve got to move the ball. The ball just stuck too much. And we’ll be better in Game 2.”
As a team, Dallas had nine assists on the night. Through the Western Conference playoffs, Mavericks players shot 57% when Doncic passed to them, but in Game 1, they were 1-of-6.
“It’s uncharacteristic for us to have only nine assists,” Kyrie Irving said. “The ball has got to move a little bit more. And again, that starts with me just being able to push the pace, get us some easy opportunities, and just adjust to what they are throwing at us.”
Doncic handled the pressure well and finished with 30 points on 12-of-26 shooting, plus 10 rebounds. However, Kyrie Irving struggled — much to the delight of Boston fans, who broke into multiple “Kyrie sucks” chants — shooting 6-of-19 on his way to 12 points.
“I thought it was going to be a little louder in here but I’m expecting the same things going into Game 2. Crowd trying to get me out of my element,” Irving said, not wanting to give Celtics fans any satisfaction.
If Dallas is going to turn things around in Game 2, Doncic and Irving have to be more efficient scorers, but Kidd and the coaching staff have to find a way to get guys moving the ball and finding open shooters.
3) About the Celtics not having been tested…
It was one of the storylines coming into this series, “Just how good are the Celtics? They haven’t been tested these playoffs.”
Boston answered that question emphatically in Game 1.
Highlights: Celtics dominate the Mavs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 7, 2024
Watch the full game highlights here 📺 pic.twitter.com/gWGjBNmdmu
It was never a question of talent, the Celtics had the best starting five in the league and won 64 games. It was a question of focus. The Celtics can be a little “too cool for school” and not play with the urgency expected of a champion. The urgency the Mavericks needed every night to get out of the West. Would Boston bring that urgency to the NBA’s biggest stage?
Boston answered that question in the first 24 minutes — it scored 63 points on 54.5% shooting overall and was 11-of-27 from 3. Nobody better personified this than Porzingis, who returned from a strained calf to score 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first half alone. Boston was up 21 at the half and in total control.
Boston will face more challenges in this series. Dallas can and will play better (they have this postseason in Game 2s), and the Celtics will be tested.
Just don’t question if they can answer the bell.
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