Boston, MA – It’s NBA Finals time! The Boston Celtics host the Dallas Mavericks for game 1 of the Finals as the Celtics look to break the tie with the Lakers for most NBA Championships with 18 and the Mavs look to capture the franchises second.
Before the season, most people thought the Celtics would be here given a lot though they had the best starting lineup in the league. The Mavs on the other hand are a bit of a surprise. They used a midseason trade to pretty much turn their season all the way around and have been one of, if not the best team in the league since acquiring PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford.
One good thing about this matchup is there will be no shortage of storylines for the series as we have two of the league’s best young stars (Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum) facing off while also having Kyrie Irving and Kristaps Porzingis facing off against their former teams.
This series though is going to come down to a few key things. Which role players show up more, whose three point droughts will be less drastic, and how will each team defend the other team’s stars.
Early on, it looked like Mavs were going to be the team with less drastic three point droughts as the Celtics started 2-8 from deep but quickly settled in. Using their defense as a catalyst, they got better looks offensively and increased their pressure defensively. Not many teams have the personnel to guard the Mavs straight up but the Celtics are one of the only teams that can.
Once they really locked in, the Mavs offense looked out of it. The Celtics had the intensity and physicality to make the Mavs look flustered. Once they got the stops the offense came easy. They were getting whatever they wanted. Starting with Porzingis. He looked like he was a shark that smelled blood in the water. He made things look very easy taking full advantage of the lack of size the Mavs had to matchup against him.
Behind Porzingis’ hot half and the Celtics blistering defense, they took a 19 point lead into the locker room. One thing was clear, this game could be over within the first few minutes of the third quarter if the Mavs didn’t make a full 180.
They didn’t quite get to a 180 but did make things very interesting. Increasing their defensive intensity and making the Celtics settle a bit more. Pulling the game within 8, it looked like we were in for a great ending to this game. The Celtics had other plans.
After the Mavs pulled within 8, the Celtics used a couple of runs including a 14-0 run to get get back up by 20 after three quarters. It was like the Celtics were able to get to another gear the Mavs couldn’t get to along with losing the non Luka minutes big time. Once the Celtics seen him go to the bench they went into full attack mode because he was the only one that had anything going.
Things didn’t get any better for the Mavs in the fourth at all as the Celtics attack continued and there was nothing the Mavs could do. Just didn’t have the offense to match the Celtics and the defense wasn’t there much of the night. The Celtics did a great job of really making the Mavs take tough looks and play a lot of one on one. Mans were only able to accumulate 9 assists in the game.
It wasn’t much of a game most of the night and the Celtics were able to take game 1 with a 107-89 victory. They were led by Jaylen Brown who had 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Kristaps Porzingis was key and provided a huge spark off the bench with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jayson Tatum added 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists while Derrick White added 15 points and 5 assists.
Luka Doncic paced the Mavs with his 30 points and 10 rebounds while PJ Washington added 14 points and 8 rebounds.
The Celtics will look to go up 2-0 while the Mavs will look to even the series up at 1 a piece when they meet again on Sunday for game 2.