Big nights from Porzingis, Brown lead Celtics to Game 1 win over Mavericks in NBA Finals

BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis returned to action in a big way and Jaylen Brown continued his postseason tear to lead the Celtics to a 107-89 victory over the Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Porzingis didn’t start for Boston but erupted for 20 points in just over 20 minutes off the bench.  Brown played stellar defense on Luka Doncic while throwing down some thunderous dunks on his way to a team-high 22 points. Brown also pulled down six rebounds, blocked three shots, and swiped three steals to stuff the stat sheet in Game 1.

Jayson Tatum struggled with six turnovers and only scored 16 points off 6-for-16 shooting, but finished 11 rebounds and five assists for Boston.

Doncic scored 30 for Dallas but needed 26 shots to get there, and he had only one assist against Boston’s lockdown defense. The Celtics blocked nine shots in Game 1, setting a new franchise record in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics led by as many as 29 points in the second quarter, but then took their foot off the gas and let the Mavs scratch and claw their way back in. Dallas cut that lead to eight points in the third to make things interesting, but the Celtics responded with a big run of their own to stamp out any comeback hopes for the Mavs. Boston has now won eight straight in the playoffs and are three wins away from an NBA title.

Porzingis showed no rust after missing the last 10 games with a right calf strain, hitting the Mavs with some nasty mid-range shots and deep threes. He dropped 11 points in the first quarter alone, sparking a 23-5 run by Boston to close the quarter.

During one stretch, Porzingis made a nice move and threw down a driving dunk on Mavs rookie center Dereck Lively II. He followed it up by forcing Jalen Hardy to miss a layup on the defensive end, and then sank a jumper over Josh Green to put Boston on top 28-18.

The calf injury never entered Porzingis’ mind on Thursday night.

“Even in the first quarter when I checked in and things started going my way and stuff, I didn’t even think about it. I was so in the moment and enjoying the moment and the crowd and everything,” he said. “It’s kind of like a blur to me right now. I have to re-watch the game, what happened and stuff, but I was completely just in the game. That’s the best feeling. I had the most fun and I hope to have more of those moments going forward.”

Boston’s 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter was the largest lead after 12 minutes of play in NBA Finals history.

The Celtics built that lead up to 29 points in the second quarter, as Brown scored nine in the frame. Two of those points came off a ferocious dunk where he crossed over Doncic before sending down a thunderous jam on two Mavericks.

Brown continued to make plays on both ends of the floor for Boston throughout Game 1. In one stretch in the second quarter, he drained a corner three and then stole the ball from Doncic before finishing with another jam to make it a 53-29 game.

The Celtics led by 21 points at half after Doncic made a pair of buckets for Dallas in the final minute. He had 17 points in the first half to lead the Mavs, which was just a warmup act for the third quarter, when he scored 10 points for Dallas.

The Mavericks were able to cut Boston’s lead to just eight points thanks to a 35-14 run over a 12-minute span over the second and third quarters. A Doncic driving layup made it a 68-54 game, and things started to get uneasy in TD Garden. It got even more uncomfortable after Doncic hit a three, Kyrie Irving hit a jumper off a Porzingis turnover, and Luka put in another three with 4:28 in the third to make it a 72-64 game.

But then the Celtics got their act together again. Tatum pulled down a Porzingis missed three and fed it to the big man for a driving dunk. A few plays later, Tatum drained a three off some nice Boston ball movement to push the Celtics’ lead to 80-64. Al Horford made a corner three on Boston’s next possession, and Brown followed with a triple of his own to make it a 14-0 run for Boston and push the Celtics’ lead to 22 points.

“Defensively, I thought we made some bigtime plays. When they cut it to eight, that is when the game started and I liked how we responded,” Brown said after the win.

Derrick White (15 points, 5 assists) picked Doncic’s pocket early in the fourth and turned it into an easy layup, and Jrue Holiday (12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) made some savvy buckets and pulled down some big offensive boards to finish off the Mavs in the final frame. Jason Kidd took out his starters and waived the white flag with Boston up by 25 points with five minutes to play.

Teams that win Game 1 of the NBA Finals have gone on to win the title 70 percent of the team. That jumps up to 78 percent when the home team wins Game 1.

The two teams will have a few days off before Game 2 on Sunday night, with tip-off set for shortly after 8 p.m. at TD Garden.