For the first time since the first round of the playoffs, the Boston Celtics had their complete team as former Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis made his return in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Porzingis, who came off the bench, scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half as the Celtics took Game 1 over Dallas 107-89 at TD Garden on Thursday night.
Game 2 is Sunday night.
When Porzingis checked in the game with 7:37 left in the first quarter, the Celtics had a 12-11 lead. Porzingis would score 11 first-quarter points, and Boston had a 37-20 lead at the end of the first, and they never looked back.
According to Porzingis, who scored 20 points in 21 minutes, the Boston faithful gave him energy.
“Yeah, I think obviously what helped me is just even from the walk out before the game and then getting on the court, getting that kind of support was unreal,” he said. “The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and that definitely helped. Obviously, it wasn’t ideal that I was out for such a long time, but I did everything I could to prepare mentally for this moment coming back, and it paid off, and we got the job done tonight and had a good game and happy about the result.”
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd says Dallas has to make it harder for Porzingis in Game 2.
“Yeah, KP was great; he knocked down shots,” Kidd said. “He changed shots. He blocked shots. He gave them a spark when he came off the bench. We’ve just got to make it a little bit tougher on the offensive end. We’ve got to make him do something different. He got great looks and knocked them down.”
For Dallas, Luka Doncic had a game-high 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds, but he had only one assist, and the offense had little flow. The Mavericks had only nine assists in Game 1.
However, Kidd believes things will be better in Game 2.
“Give the Celtics credit,” Kidd said. “They did a great job defending, making it tough on us. 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.”
Irving, who lost for the 11th straight time Boston, agreed with Kidd; Dallas has to do a better job moving the ball.
“It’s uncharacteristic for us to have only nine assists,” 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.”
Boston is a better team with Porzingis on the court, and if he plays like this for three more games, the Celtics will be tough to beat. However, in these playoffs, Dallas won their next game after a loss, so we’ll see if that trend continues in Game 2.
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