After finishing with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and three huge blocks in his return, Kristaps Porzingis said, “I can add more.”
Thursday night was a strong performance for the Celtics in their 107-89 blowout of the Mavericks in Game 1 of the Finals. Luka Doncic had an impressive double-double (30 points and 10 rebounds), but for the most part, Boston held Dallas in check with just nine assists — Doncic had just one — and 7-for-27 from behind the arc. Gone were those lob dunks and corner threes that ended up burying the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kyrie Irving scored just 12 points on 31.6% shooting. Dereck Lively III had just one bucket and five fouls.
And yet, there’s a scary, prevailing sentiment heading into Game 2: the Celtics can be even better.
When asked about the team’s defense on Doncic, Jaylen Brown said flatly, “it’s a full team effort. Luka Doncic still had 30 and 10. Gotta do a better job.” It’s hard to imagine being any better against the second-place vote getter in MVP voting. The glaring stat was his single assist in Game 1 with Boston rarely sending multiple bodies at Doncic and staying home on his teammates. However, there are areas of improvement heading into Sunday.
Obviously, there’s Jayson Tatum. For the most part, he was solid defensively and finished a +19, but that won’t stop the critics from pointing to his 6-for-16 shooting and six turnovers. Kendrick Perkins, love you, big man, but let’s not make this a thing.
After a similar 7-for-17 in a loss to the Cavaliers, he shot eerily identical games in Cleveland shooting 11-for-25 (2-for-8 from behind the arc, 9-for-9 at the free throw line) in both Games 3 and 4. It’s a good bet that he’ll stay aggressive and have a big bounce back in Game 2.
In the regular season, the Celtics lead the league in turnovers at just under 12 per game. They only had 12 TOs in Game 1, but so many of them were of the boneheaded type. Lost handles in the paint. Loafing passes up 20+. Dallas scored 13 points off those giveaways. With the Mavericks packing the paint, Boston should be able to keep their turnovers in the single digits.
Boston had a respectable sixteen triples in Game 1. That’s been par for the course throughout the playoffs with a postseason-high of 22 in Game 1 against the Heat. However, they hit 20 or more in fifteen games in the regular season and won all fifteen. They were 27-0 when they hit 18. Again, with Dallas selling out and protecting the rim, you get the sense that there’s a breakout game on the horizon.
To wit, after going just 4-for-23 against Cleveland and Indiana, Sam Hauser broke out of his slump and hit 2-for-3 last night, adding to Boston’s +27 from 3. It’s all a function of Mazzulla Math and could have been much worse. Boston shot fourteen corner threes to Dallas’ three. Jason Kidd vowed to limit the Celtics open threes and this was just an average output.
In the end, Joe Mazzulla was happy with how his team responded to the Mavs’ 22-9 run that cut the lead from 19 to 8 to open the third quarter. But while it’s always a game of runs, let’s not do that again, OK? It felt less schematic and more human nature. With three wins left to a championship, that focus will have to get even sharper.
As Brown says, “every game has its own story.” All season, the Celtics haven’t skipped steps and taken every game seriously.
