Four thoughts following the Boston Celtics' 107-89 rout of the Dallas Mavericks

Game 1 of the NBA Finals took place on Thursday night, with the Dallas Mavericks falling to the Boston Celtics 107-89. With 20 points off the bench, Kristaps Porzingis led the Celtics in a well-rounded performance. With 30 points, Luka Doncic led Dallas in the loss.

The two teams traded baskets and leads as the NBA Finals got underway with impressive shooting. Al Horford scored twice in the first quarter for Dallas, while Kyrie Irving scored four points. Fans saw Kristaps Porzingis come off the bench for the first time after a Celtics timeout. Derrick White put Boston ahead with back-to-back three-pointers. For several minutes, the teams exchanged scoreless possessions, with the Celtics leading 24–18 at the end. 

A dunk and jumper by Porzingis put Boston ahead by ten points and prompted a timeout from Dallas. After a hiccup, Jaden Hardy scored, but the Celtics answered with three straight threes to take the lead and win the game. After the first quarter, Boston led 37–20.

Starting the second quarter with a lefty floater, Kyrie put an end to a 23-5 Celtics run. While the Mavericks were having trouble scoring, the Celtics continued to attack Dallas by driving and kicking. In the second, Porzingis continued to be unconscious and made contested jumpers to give Boston a 21-point advantage. 

After a timeout, Dallas head coach Jason Kidd decided to play small, and the Celtics piled on the baskets, extending their advantage to 29 points thanks to turnovers committed by Dallas. The Celtics led 63-42 at the half, although the Mavericks made a few baskets to narrow the deficit.

After Dallas swiftly cut the margin to 18 points in the second half, they failed to score on several possessions, including some puzzling Irving mistakes. But Irving's outstanding layup ultimately turned the ship around. After then, Washington scored in transition to reduce Boston's advantage to 16 and force a timeout from the Celtics. 

Dallas persisted, cutting into the advantage and making Boston miss. The Mavericks reduced the lead to 16 points, but Doncic's second three-pointer of the fourth put them behind eight. 

The Mavericks made back-to-back turnovers and gave away an offensive rebound that resulted in a Porzingis dunk following another Boston timeout. After Lively committed his fourth and fifth foul, the Mavericks found themselves behind 16 points once more.Dallas was having trouble getting points in the paint, as two more threes from the Celtics sank. Dallas was behind after three quarters, 86-66.

Dallas gave itself around half the quarter to make a run in the last frame before raising the white flag. Halfway through the quarter, the Mavericks were down 25, and Kidd decided to bench Irving and Doncic. The Celtics would ultimately prevail 107-89 after the benches cleared.

Assistance—or the absence of it

Even if the Mavericks don't have a very high assist total, the fact that they ended with more turnovers than assists is cause for concern. Boston made all the necessary switches going into the series, but Dallas players will eventually have to complete plays because Luka is making drives and kicks. While watching the broadcast, we caught a small glimpse of Kidd's speech, which focused excessively on one-on-one play, although this was a team-wide problem.

Kyrie Irving needs to improve greatly.

Irving continually played with aggression in this game, searching for opportunities to score and try to make plays. Sadly, he was incredibly inefficient, scoring just 12 points on 6 of 19 shots from the field. After the Mavericks managed to cut the Celtics' advantage to eight points in the third quarter, his missed threes (he went 0-5) and his unlucky turnovers became quite apparent. While it is inevitable to miss some shots, it was especially annoying to watch missed open shots.

Dereck Lively II gave off a very rookie-like appearance.

Lively has been crucial to the Dallas Mavericks' postseason success, and this is the first time he's been truly off-kilter since the middle of the Oklahoma City Thunder series. Due to foul play—more than one of which came from being a little too aggressive—he only played 18 minutes. He's been really impressive this playoffs with his game-by-game improvement, so I think he'll find his place in this series. But he appeared his age on Thursday night.

Retro Kristaps Porzingis images

Look, we spent a lot of time watching Porzingis. Up until he tore his meniscus in the NBA Bubble in 2019–20, he was excellent. After witnessing a stiff breeze defeat him in the first few games of 2022, he was never the same in Dallas, and it's very astonishing to see the strength of his lower body on those post-ups in this game. 

His return to health is a plus for basketball, but it annoys Mavericks supporters to see a former star humiliate them in front of a national audience. This series may not last long if Dallas is unable to contain him. His play will be crucial.

EARN MONEY