Kristaps Porzingis returned from a calf injury that kept him out for five weeks and helped the Boston Celtics take a big, dominant step toward raising Banner 18 with a 107-89 Game 1 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night at TD Garden.
Porzingis finished with 20 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of play. His 11 first-quarter points keyed the Celtics to a 29-point lead in the first half. The Mavericks got as close as eight points in the third quarter, but Boston answered and pulled away.
Luka Doncic led all scorers with 30 points to go with 10 rebounds and just one assist. Kyrie Irving had 12 points in the loss.
Meanwhile, six Celtics scored in double-digits, led by Jaylen Brown (22) and Jayson Tatum (16 points, 11 rebounds, five assists).
Game 2 is set for Sunday night back at the Garden.
MassLive had live coverage below during the game, which can be found below:
Final - Celtics 107, Mavericks 89
The Celtics cruised to a Game 1 win over the Mavericks in Kristaps Porzingis' return to the lineup. https://t.co/S9nWbuZiq5
— masslivesports (@masslivesports) June 7, 2024
Celtics smash the Mavericks 107-89 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Massive game from the besties Brown and Porzingis. C's lead the series 1-0 and are 3 games away from a championship. Game 2 is Sunday at the Garden.
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Fourth Quarter
Garden crowd showing their love this timeout with the Celtics up 100-75 and Kidd waving the white flag. All of the Celtics' top-6 are in double-figure scoring. Massive statement to open the NBA Finals after the break
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Just 6 assists is wild at this point of the game. https://t.co/a02W7moTcq
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
Doncic has 30 points on 12-24 shooting, but has just 1 assist. Mavs have 6 assists total. I'm sure the Celtics will take that all series
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Celtics have 8 blocks tonight and Derrick White doesn't have one of them, which feels a lil off
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
14-2 Celtics run in the final 4:27 of the 3rd quarter. after all that, the Mavs only won the 3rd by just a point. Jaylen Brown has 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks (!)
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Third Quarter - Celtics 86, Mavericks 66
Jaylen Brown's fingerprints just all over this 14-0 Celtics run. What a stretch for him.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
Jaylen Brown stocks are so high right now (5 total)
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
8-0 Celtics run ever since the Mavs cut it to 8. huge response and they've kept the Mavs off the scoreboard
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
35-14 Mavs run ever since the C's briefly led by 29. once-raucous Garden crowd is stunned now that the lead's down to 8
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Celtics' lead of 27 points is down to 8 with lots of time left.
— Matt Vautour (@MattVautour424) June 7, 2024
slow start to 2nd half for the Celtics. good timeout by Mazzulla after the Mavs cut it to 16. C's offense has scored just 10 points in the last 8:26 of play
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
As soon as I tweeted that the White Sox and Mavericks started scoring https://t.co/TjbMT9RiRe
— Matt Vautour (@MattVautour424) June 7, 2024
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Mavericks brought quite a few famous faces to TD Garden. https://t.co/fTHF4psadr
— masslivesports (@masslivesports) June 7, 2024
Halftime - Celtics 63, Mavericks 42
Red Sox and Celtics 77, Opponents 46
— Matt Vautour (@MattVautour424) June 7, 2024
SHE NAILED IT. PERFECTION. ON THE BIG STAGE https://t.co/i0mV92kaPU
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
a Red Panda appearance at the NBA Finals. a worthy stage for my 🐐
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Second Quarter
Celtics are shooting 75 percent from 2-point range
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
you just know Jaylen Brown's been looking forward to that Doncic matchup for the past week. he's playing like it, too
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
A rare NBA Finals second quarter double up.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
Patriots in attendance for Game 1 of The NBA Finals include: Matthew Judon, Jonathan Jones, Anfernee Jennings, Keion White
— Karen Guregian (@kguregian) June 7, 2024
Zdeno Chara in a Porzingis jersey pic.twitter.com/qi4byLRN5J
— Matt Vautour (@MattVautour424) June 7, 2024
Porzingis with a big smile after hitting that shot to put the Celtics up 21. that jumper refuses to miss right now
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
no dip from that 3 from Hauser and he drills it. maybe watching those highlights worked
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Sam Hauser's slump coming to an end would be a very promising development for the Celtics.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
So that was probably one of the best all around quarters of Porzingis' season. Quite the return.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
Celtics close out first quarter on a 23-5 run.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
First Quarter - Celtics 37, Mavericks 20
that was a near-perfect 1st quarter from Porzingis. gotta be doing wonders for his confidence in his first-ever Finals game
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
also, 10-point Celtics lead already and Jayson Tatum hasn't scored yet. he's only taken 1 shot so far
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
23-9 Celtics run. Garden is rocking. Porzingis has been everywhere
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
So Porzingis seems ... you know ... OK
— Matt Vautour (@MattVautour424) June 7, 2024
Not much rust on Kristaps Porzingis' jump shot.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
Porzingis is not playing like a dude who was a little timid in his interviews the past few days. What a start and immediate impact for him
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
could feel the anticipation building here when Porzingis posted up Doncic
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
so nice to have basketball back instead of talking about it for the past 10 days
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
not sure how it sounds on TV, but it is loud as hell at the Garden
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
no Finals logo on the court really does suck
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 7, 2024
Prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Celtics paid tribute to the late great Bill Walton. https://t.co/QOUqKrAEYz
— masslivesports (@masslivesports) June 7, 2024
Pregame Updates
Celtics shooting shirts tonight pic.twitter.com/cPwFHEO8Uz
— Matt Vautour (@MattVautour424) June 7, 2024
Porzingis off the bench for Game 1 is now official for the Celtics. That will take a little pressure off.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 7, 2024
Jason Kidd on Al Horford: “He just seems like he’s getting younger. … Longevity, he’s doing something right.”
— Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 (@SouichiTerada) June 6, 2024
Ahead of Game 1, Joe Mazzulla said Kristaps Porzingis wouldn’t have a minutes restriction pic.twitter.com/3FvwrCMnas
— Karen Guregian (@kguregian) June 6, 2024
Best news of the day heading into Game 1: Tonight's start time at TD Garden is actually reasonably close to 8:30 p.m. for a change. Tip off is listed officially at 8:37 p.m.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 6, 2024
What can we expect from Kristaps Porzingis in Game 1? How will Joe Mazzulla manage Porzingis during the series? Broke down what to watch for with @SouichiTerada here: https://t.co/sT4OPLi3o8
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 6, 2024
Celtics will wear their Association jerseys (3-1) tonight vs Dallas pic.twitter.com/TIneoMhvDG
— What are the Celtics wearing tonight? (@CelticsUniforms) June 6, 2024
Pregame Notes
BIG PREGAME READ: Celtics beat reporter Brian Robb takes you inside the team’s 10-year chase of a Kristaps Porzingis trade. This one is well worth you time.
MassLive columnist Matt Vautour asks if we’re about to witness Jayson Tatum’s defining superstar moment. ... Online sportsbooks certainly think so, as Tatum is the favorite to win Finals MVP.
- RELATED: How to buy tickets to the NBA Finals
Meanwhile, columnist Karen Guregian wonders if Porzingis is playing possum about his return from a calf injury that has kept him out for five weeks. ... The Celtics say they expect his return Thursday night to be seamless.
MassLive’s “experts” released their picks for the series, and let’s just say they are very confident in the home team raising its 18th championship banner.
On the Dallas side, superstar Luka Doncic continues to play through injury, but they haven’t seemed to hinder him on the Mavericks’ playoff run to the finals.
Meanwhile, former Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, who landed at No. 2 on MassLive’s Boston villain list, has a plan for how to deal with a hostile Garden crowd.
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