Kristaps Porzingis' Game 1 Return Sparks Boston Celtics in NBA Finals Victory Over Dallas Mavericks

After a long awaited return from injury, the Boston Celtics used a strong performance from Kristaps Porzingis to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Jun 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) controls the ball against Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) in the third quarter during game one of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

BOSTON — After trailing by as many as 29 points, the Dallas Mavericks fell 107-89 against the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It marks the third instance the Mavs have lost a series opener this postseason, with the only exception being in the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

With Kristaps Porzingis not playing since midway through the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics brought him off the bench in his return to the lineup. He provided a massive spark, scoring 15 of his 20 points before halftime. He added six rebounds and three blocks.

“Tonight was affirmation to myself that I’m pretty good,” Porzingis said. "I’m not perfect but I can play like this and I can add to this team.”

Jun 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) controls the ball against Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) in the third quarter during game one of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics made 11 of their 16 perimeter jumpers in the first half, while Dallas shot just 7-27 (25.9%) on the night. With the Celtics often guarding straight up, Luka Doncic finished with 30 points but was held to one assist. Dallas recorded only nine assists as a team, with five before sending in reserves.

By trying not to send help or double, Boston neutralized the supporting cast by not giving up corner 3-pointers and locked down play finishing chances in the paint for role players. "They mostly play one-on-one," Doncic said. "They didn't send a lot of help. So that's why."

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd called for better ball movement in Game 2 in order to counter the Celtics' defensive approach. " I thought give the Celtics credit. They did a great job defending, making it tough on us," he 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."

Kyrie Irving was contained to 12 points on 6-19 shooting overall while missing all five 3-point attempts. He's now lost 11 consecutive games against the Celtics, with his most recent victory being over three years ago. Dallas was outscored 19-4 when Irving was on the floor without Doncic. Irving took accountability for needing to be more effective in his opportunities

"I think that they really rely on their great defensive ball pressure and one-on-one defenders. They funnel us into certain areas," Irving said. "Even as I say that, they are relying on the one-on-one, every time I got an iso, there's almost two, three people waiting for me to get in there. I have to catch the ball on a live dribble and just be aware of my opportunities. It's uncharacteristic for us to have only nine assists. 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 continued to boo Irving in an attempt to get into his head throughout the night. He downplayed it by saying he thought TD Garden would be louder.

“I thought it was going to be a little louder in here. I’m expecting the same thing (in Game 2). The crowd’s trying to get me out of my element,” Irving said. “It’s not the first time I’ve lost in Boston. I don’t want to make it a habit.”

P.J. Washington added 14 points and eight rebounds, but the supporting cast struggled to make an impact to take pressure off Doncic. Derrick Jones Jr. only had five points and six rebounds while making 2 of 9 shots from the floor. Outside of Jaden Hardy's 13 points, with most coming in garbage time, Dallas had 20 total bench points. If Boston is going to guard straight up often, the idea is to dare the supporting cast to beat them.

In addition to Porzingis' 20 points, all of the Celtics' starters scored in double figures. Jaylen Brown had 22 points and six rebounds, with three steals and three blocks. Jayson Tatum added 16 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Derrick White provided 15 points and five assists. Jrue Holiday chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Al Horford had 10 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. It was an impressive display of firepower.

After the Mavericks established a 9-5 lead, the Celtics went on a 7-0 run. Dallas responded with a 4-0 run led by Irving to go up 13-12, entering a timeout at the 6:58 mark of the first quarter. Irving stole the ball and drew a foul from Brown, followed by two tough pull-up short-range jumpers.

Boston took a heavy volume of 3-point attempts early in this game, with Dallas often collapsing on drives. The Celtics put up a heavy volume of makes. The Mavericks gave up second and third chance opportunities after long misses often early, which proved problematic.

Washington downplayed the Mavericks' offensive struggles, but emphasized the need to be better about contesting shots and rebounding. "I think they hit a bunch of threes that we need to do a better job of contesting," he said. "Had a bunch of offensive rebounds that led to second-chance points. That's what we need to focus on."

The spacing the Celtics have puts a lot of pressure on the defense, requiring the Mavericks to come up with solutions in Game 2. "Their spacing is great, and they have a lot of shooters," Doncic said. "So I think we have to do a better job taking those threes away."

The Mavericks emphasized bringing Porzingis' man into the action with Boston crossmatching by having him guard Washington and then blitzing. Boston often dared either Washington or Jones to shoot from the perimeter to load up in the paint, proving challenging for Dallas to overcome. There were uncharacteristically poor drives from role players throughout the game, leading to empty possessions on a night Irving struggled to score.

Different Mavericks role players began trying to attack aggressively in transition and came empty, including Washington and Hardy. Dallas began getting outplayed by Porzingis, with a dunk attacking Lively, blocking Hardy at the rim in pick-and-roll, then making a face-up jumper. Boston used this stretch of play to go up 28-18 with 2:20 left in the period, establishing Boston's first double-figure advantage of the night.

There was a barrage of three consecutive made 3-pointers by Boston. including Jayson Tatum hit a side-step from deep, Porzingis hit a trailer 3-pointer and Sam Hauser got one to go on a tightly contested shot in the corner. With Porzingis swatting away his third blocked shot of the quarter, Boston was up 37-20 entering the second quarter. Boston's early success put them in a position to comfortably manage the game, making the margin for error for Dallas very thin.

"They came out and hit us in the mouth early. Got the home crowd going into it. Down 17 in the first quarter. It's not really like us to give up 37 points," Irving said. "It's happened to us before in the playoffs, but we just wanted to make it a lot tougher on them. They hit a lot of threes. Again, when you get them rolling like that, they play a very easy game the rest of the game, and we've just got to hit them in the mouth a little bit."

Porzingis continued to punish the Mavericks for guarding him with smaller defenders, often by using a face-up jumper. He scored his 15th point of the night after his second straight possession with a face-up jumper, putting Boston up 48-27 with 6:29 left before halftime.

Midway through the second quarter, Dallas opted to go small with Maxi Kleber and Washington as its frontcourt, making it simpler to switch everything and play a five-out offense. This appears to be a combination the team will have to rely on more in this series with the challenges Gafford faces to guard in space along with Lively's current limitations in this matchup.

After hitting a contested corner 3-pointer, Brown ripped the ball from Doncic for his second breakaway dunk of the half after already having a poster slam over Gafford earlier. He produced a dominant first half with many highlight plays.

Not only was Boston converting from beyond the arc at a high clip, going 11-27 (40.7%) in the first half, but Dallas got punished in the paint. Between a dropoff pass from Holiday to White leading to a dunk and Tatum and Brown picking on smaller wing defenders, often changing directions before attacking the rim for dunks, it was challenging to get stops. It was an incredible display of shotmaking and general execution on both ends from the Celtics throughout the first half.

Dallas opened the third quarter on a 10-5 run to make it a 16-point game entering a timeout with 7:42 remaining. Irving was aggressive attacking downhill. Doncic attacked the rim for a finish to trim the deficit to 14 points. As Holiday shot free throws, Porzingis checked back into the game.

After outscoring Boston 22-9 coming out of halftime as of the 4:27 mark of the third quarter, the Mavericks trailed by single figures for the first time since early in the game. Doncic aggressively attacked the paint and heated up from beyond the arc, including a step-back 3-pointer and a pull-up 3 after Brown went under a screen. He scored 12 points of Dallas' 22 points during this span.

"Just playing our basketball. I think in those moments, we were playing our basketball," Doncic said. "We were getting stops. We didn't allow them to offensive rebound. We were having fun out there those couple moments, and that's what we've got to do more."

The Celtics felt the game began when the Mavericks cut it to eight points before retaking the momentum. "I think defensively I thought we made some big-time plays," Brown said. "When they cut it to eight, that's when the game started. I liked how our team responded. We stayed composed. Offensively, we got to our spacing and was able to push that lead back out and make some plays on offense. That was a big third quarter."

There was a pivotal moment when the Mavericks cut the deficit to eight points, but Lively traveled, and the momentum flipped back in the Celtics' favor. Boston heated up to the point of regaining a 22-point lead late in the third quarter, using a 14-2 run to close the final period. There was no coming back for the Mavericks, with only 12 minutes to overcome a 20-point deficit.

"Yeah, we did cut it to eight and got the rebound and unfortunately came up with a travel. A lot of good things in that third and fourth that we can build on," Kidd said. "That's what we talked about after the game and that's what we have to do. We came out and won the third. Had a great opportunity to cut into that lead. Unfortunately, they go on a run. Once we cut it to eight, but then you know we won the fourth. So there are two positive things that we can take from these four quarters.

"We've got to be better in the first. They took advantage of that," Kidd explained. "They knocked down threes. But the big thing is, we have to be better as a team offensively and defensively."

There was more switching from the Mavericks' defense, with Lively trying to hold his own defensively, which ultimately resulted in him picking up a fifth foul late in the third quarter. Dallas turned to different things the team hadn't done recently, including throwing in Tim Hardaway Jr. after he'd fallen out of the rotation.

After a turnover at the 8:34 mark of the fourth quarter led to a transition finish for White to put the Celtics up 92-71, there was no rallying back.

The Mavericks will look to bounce back in Game 2 as they have managed to do twice throughout this postseason run after losing the series opener. “Either you lose or you win,” Doncic said. “First to four, we’ve got to focus on the next game.”

Irving detailed how this series will be a chess match going forward, with adjustments that will need to be made before Game 2. Dallas has positives to take away from moments within the loss.

"There's going to be a level of chess that still has to be played. And Game 1 was just about adjustments," Irving said. "We obviously wanted to win this basketball game. Gave ourselves a chance in the second half when we were down by eight, and they brought it up to 16 and they got it up to 22 and we called a timeout. So just going to be replaying some of these possessions. But at the same time, looking at some of the positives that we can carry on to Game 2."

Stick with MavericksGameday for more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA Finals.

Follow Grant Afseth on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.