With the key return of the Latvian Kristaps Porzingisthe Boston Celtics They defeated this Thursday on their court by a resounding 107-89 to the Dallas Mavericksin the first game of the Finals of the NBA.
Porzingiswho had not played since April 29 due to a muscle injury, scored 20 points in 21 minutes coming off the bench, in a devastating performance against his former team.
Luka Doncicthe great star of these Playoffsshone with 30 points and 10 rebounds in his first game in a few Finals but his partner Kyrie Irving It remained at 12 points, for some Mavericks who were trailing from the first quarter with disadvantages of up to 29 points.
“Obviously someone like him (Doncic) is going to score his points. Our job is to limit the other players as best we can”he pointed Jayson Tatum. “But it’s just one game. These are the NBA Finals, they’re not going to go away easily”added the forward of Boston.
Pushed by his fans, Boston He didn’t even resent a discreet night of Tatumwho recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaylen Brown (MVP of the Eastern Conference finals) was the figure and reached 22 points.
The Celticswhich fell two years ago in the Finals before the Warriorsimposed their greatest experience in the first round of this duel against the Mavericksthe unexpected guest on the big stage after finishing in fifth place in the Western Conference.
Kyrie Irvingreceived with enormous boos by his former fans, this time did not grant sufficient support to Doncicwho barely distributed an assist due to the lack of effectiveness of his teammates.
The Mavericks They staged a comeback attempt by getting within eight points (72-64) midway through the third quarter but the Celtics They resisted the pressure thanks to their success from the outside line, with a total of 16 triples scored from 42 attempts (38.1%), compared to just 7 from 27 (25.9%) of their rival.
The Finals were launched amidst a vibrant atmosphere in the TD Gardenwhere the Spanish was in the front row Pep Guardiolacoach of Manchester Citywearing a local team sweater.
Jaylen Brown He was the first person in charge of marking Doncic while the Celtics They already warned of their strategy of exploiting their outside shot, the best in the league.
After an even first five minutes, the game took a turn with the entry of Porzingis by the veteran Dominican center Al Horford (10 points and 7 rebounds).
Ultra-motivated, the Latvian center did not take long to ask for the ball and do damage to the players on both sides of the court. Mavericksthe team that transferred him to the Washington Wizards in 2022 after three disappointing courses in which he had serious chemistry problems with Doncic.
In just four minutes Porzingis chained 8 points in a row for the Celticswhich allowed the first growth of the locals without the need for intervention Tatumwho took 10 minutes to score his first basket.
Without showing any trace of his inactivity, Porzingis finished with 18 points and 2 blocks in the first half, in which Boston dominated by a forceful 63-42.
Upon returning from the locker room came the attempted reaction of dallas in the only section in which it appeared Kyrie Irvingone of the least loved figures in the world TD Garden after his controversial march in 2019 to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Mavericks They got closer to eight points with four minutes left in the third quarter but the team itself Porzingis He stopped the rise with a triple that triggered a 14-0 run for the locals that settled the match.
Five minutes from the end the coach Jason Kidd threw in the towel by removing the holders of the Mavericks heading into Sunday’s second game again in Boston.
