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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Bryan Armen Graham

Dallas Mavericks 89-107 Boston Celtics: NBA finals Game 1 – as it happened

Mavericks Celtics NBA Boston (Organization) Dallas (Organization) Boston Celtics Dallas Mavericks Game 1 Bryan Jayson Tatum
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) dunks the ball over Dallas Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr (left) and forward Maxi Kleber (right) during Game 1.
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) dunks the ball over Dallas Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr (left) and forward Maxi Kleber (right) during Game 1. Photograph: Peter Casey/USA Today Sports

That’s all for tonight. Thanks for following along with us and be sure to check out the full report of tonight’s Game 1 here.

“I say it all the time: it’s a game of runs,” says Tatum, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. “This is the NBA finals. They’re not going to go away easy. We just had to respond.”

Asked what the Celtics were able to do to contain Dončić, who scored a game-high 30 points but logged just one assist, Tatum says: “Obviously someone like that is going to score and get us points. Our job is to try to limit the other guys as much as we possibly can.”

What he was most proud about personally?

“That we won,” he says. “I had way too many turnovers. I got to be a lot better, but, you know, we took care of the job tonight. [We’ll] get some rest, watch film, and see what you do better for Game 2.”

Final: Mavericks 89-107 Celtics

And that’s a wrap. The Celtics have taken Game 1 of the NBA finals behind a sensational team effort, getting all five starters in double figures with Kristaps Porzingis marking his NBA finals debut with a stunning 20-point, six-rebound, three-block effort in 21 minutes off the bench.

Mavericks 82-101 Celtics; 2.40, fourth quarter

Now more Boston players are exiting to ovations from the crowd. Hauser and Kornet in for Holiday and Horford, the 17-year veteran in search of his first NBA title. White and Tatum follow.

Mavericks 78-100 Celtics; 4.08, fourth quarter

After Brown splits a pair of foul shots to open a 100-75 lead, Kidd raises the white flag: Hardaway in for Washington, Powell in for Lively, Hardy in for Irving, Exum in for Dončić. Hardy makes a 26-foot cosmetic three before Brown exits to roars from the crowd.

Mavericks 75-99 Celtics; 5.49, fourth quarter

Dončić looks gassed. Lots of heavy lifting tonight and it’s telling. Washington rebounds his own miss and makes a lay-up to get it down to 19, but Tatum restores the 21-point edge with a gorgeous fadeaway from 18 feet. A Lively dunk is followed by a Horford tip shot. Lively then gets to the line and misses both shots. The Mavericks are running out of carpet. Holiday makes a three on the other end, getting into double figures and stretching the lead to 24 points. Time to clear the benches. The result is a handshake away.

Updated

Mavericks 71-92 Celtics; 8.34, fourth quarter

Holiday makes a two to extend the lead to 19 points and Washington misses another three. The Mavs are a frigid 5-for-23 from three-point range on the night. Dončić follows with his fourth turnover of the night and White converts the transition bucket, opening a 21-point lead and prompting a Jason Kidd timeout.

Mavericks 71-88 Celtics; 9.39, fourth quarter

A Mavericks team which averaged 22.4 assists per game in the playoffs has just five on 27 baskets entering the fourth quarter. Brown opens the scoring with a driving lay-up, but Washington answers with a lay-up on a possession extended by an offensive rebound. Dončić is fouled while making a lay-up but can’t convert the three-point play. Mavericks down by 18. A very physical contest but the refs are letting them play. Dončić gets into the paint again and draws White’s third foul, earning another pair of foul shots and making one of two. He’s got 30 in his NBA finals debut with more than nine minutes to go.

End of third quarter: Mavericks 64-83 Celtics

Horford makes a three-pointer, extending Boston’s 11-0 scoring run. Then Brown summarily rejects an Irving shot on the other end, prompting chants of “Ky-rie sucks!” that ring throughout the Garden. Brown pulls up from beyond the top of the key and connects, marking 14 unanswered points and opening the lead to 22 points. Gafford makes a pair of free throws to end the run and the buzzer sounds with Boston up 20. Twelve minutes to go in Game 1!

Updated

Mavericks 64-80 Celtics; 1.52, third quarter

Dončić misses a three-pointer from at least 28 feet. The rebound is grabbed by Hauser and within seconds Holiday assists Tatum on a 26-foot three than sends the crowd back into an ear-splitting roar. It’s an eight-point spurt by the hosts and the nervous energy hanging in TD Garden has at least temporarily subsided.

Mavericks 64-77 Celtics; 2.44, third quarter

Dončić’s 10 points in the third quarter have outscored the Celtics as a team (nine). The 29-point lead has been cut to eight. How will Boston respond? Brown splits a pair of free throws after play resumes, then Irving is whistles for traveling while moving his pivot foot in an attempt to create a shot in the lane. Porzingis flushes a dunk on the next possession, Irving misses, then Brown draws a shooting foul while driving the baseline into the lane. It’s only Lively and it’s his fifth. That could be crucial. He’s spelled by Tim Hardaway Jr, Brown makes a pair of foul shots and the lead is up to 13 again.

Mavericks 64-72 Celtics; 4.27, third quarter

A Dončić driving lay-up cuts it to 14 points and the Mavs are making inroads. He winces as he saunters back down the court, perhaps a flare-up of his ailing right knee. Holiday makes a pair of free throws off a Jones Jr foul to halt the Dallas scoring run. Washington makes a pair of foul shots, followed by a Tatum lay-up. Dončić then calmly hits a 27-footer – he’s up to 24 points – and the Boston lead is down to 13. Dallas have looked much better since half-time, far more composed on the defensive end, and the pace has slowed down a bit. Irving creates separation with another gorgeous dribble move and deposits a 10-foot fadeway. Then after a Holiday miss, Dončić hits a long three for his 25th, 26th and 27th points of the night. The Boston lead is down to single digits with a long way to go and Mazzulla calls for another timeout.

Updated

Mavericks 52-68 Celtics; 7.42, third quarter

Irving converts a driving lay-up with a clever hesitation feint along the baseline, Tatum makes a bad pass for his sixth turnover of the night, then Washington follows with another elementary lay-up to cut the deficit. Mazzulla doesn’t like what he sees and quickly signals for a timeout.

Updated

Mavericks 48-68 Celtics; 8.22, third quarter

According to Stathead, the 1948 Baltimore Bullets are the only team to win a finals game from 20 or more points down at half-time. So you’re telling me there’s a chance. Dončić, Gafford and Irving and get early buckets for the Mavs to open the third quarter, but White hits a three-pointer and makes a pair of freebies that keeps the lead at 20.

Boston (aka Scranton with clams) was never going to draw the Hollywood glitterati for tonight’s contest. According to the NBA’s list of celebs in attendance, 66.7% of the actors in the building are Wahlbergs. But at least two dozen sports luminaries are in the building, including Manchester City gaffer Pep Guardiola, UFC president-cum-Trump surrogate Dana White and apparently one-third of the Philadelphia Eagles’ active roster?

Half-time: Mavericks 42-63 Celtics

After a quick trade of baskets, Porzingis calmly drains a 26-footer. Unbelievable. That’s 18 points in 11 minutes for the NBA finals debutant in his first action since April. Kleber and Dončić follow with a couple of baskets to chip into the lead. Then in the final seconds before intermission Dončić hits a stepback three from the elbow, helping the Mavericks close out the half on a seven-point run. But Dallas have an uphill climb ahead of them after a dizzying offensive onslaught by the hosts over the first 24 minutes.

Updated

Mavericks 33-58 Celtics; 4.11, second quarter

Dončić, who’s on a quiet eight points on 3-for-9 from the floor, gets going a little with back-to-back twos. That prompts a quick timeout from Joe Mazzulla with the Boston lead down to 25. Better safe than sorry.

Mavericks 29-58 Celtics; 4.11, second quarter

Jones makes a driving floater, by Brown responds with five quick points on a 23-footer followed by a steal-and-dunk. The lead is 24 and the crowd is rollicking, breaking into deafening chants of “Let’s go Cel-tics!” on the ensuing possession. White makes a two-footer, then Tatum follows with a 27-footer that stretches the lead to 58-29. They’re doubling Dallas up! The Mavericks have become completely unglued. Stop the fight!

Updated

Mavericks 27-48 Celtics; 6.29, second quarter

After Dončić splits a pair of free throws, Porzingis drains a 15-footer. Luka misses a step-back three on the other end and Porzingis follows with another 18-foot jumper. He’s locked in! Play breaks for a TV timeout and the 7ft 3in Latvian retreats to the bench with a wide grin plastered across his face. And who could blame him after this dream start to his NBA finals debut. He’s got 15 points so far, outscoring Luka and Kyrie (14 points combined) at the three-eighths pole of Game 1.

Mavericks 26-44 Celtics; 10.07, second quarter

Irving stops the bleeding with a quick two, but Brown answers on the other end. Gafford scores on a nifty hook shot off a Dončić assist, but Hauser gets the crowd going again with threeball. A pair of Washington free throws is followed by a massive Brown poster dunk that stretches the Boston lead to 18 points.

End of first quarter: Mavericks 20-37 Celtics

Hardy makes a 13-footer for Dallas with about two minutes to go, closing it to 28-20. But a Boston avalanche quickly consumes the visitors. Tatum ignites the crowd with a three-pointer, then an Irving miss leads to a Porzingis longball that extends the lead to 14 points. Porzingis then stuffs Irving’s shot on the other end and Hauser hits another three that extends it to 17. Porzingis then blocks another shot on Green’s dunk attempt right before the buzzer and the crowd is in rapture. An unbelievable start for Kristaps Porzingis in his NBA finals debut: 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting with three rebounds and three blocked shots in only seven minutes. That’s a 23-5 run by Boston to close out the opening stanza.

Updated

Mavericks 18-28 Celtics; 2.20, first quarter

Dončić nails a 26-footer to close the gap. Dallas will need more of that, but Porzingis answers with a mid-range jumper. Washington misses a shot on the next trip down, then commits his second personal foul, a very pointless one more than 30 feet from the hoop. After a couple of misses both ways Porzingis rises to the goal for an easy dunk, then makes a 16-footer on the next possession to open a double-digit lead for the Celtics. That’s eight points in five minutes for the Latvian colossus, who hasn’t missed a beat.

Updated

Mavericks 15-22 Celtics; 5.24, first quarter

Brown cans a pair of free throws to put Boston back ahead, but Dončić answers with a driving lay-up with Celtics all over him, appealing to the referees over the no-call. The Mavericks have made seven of their first 10 shots from the floor but only lead by one. From there White makes back-to-back three-pointers. Then Porzingis draws a shooting foul on Dončić and makes both freebies to open a seven-point lead.

Updated

Mavericks 13-12 Celtics; 6.58, first quarter

Kyrie Irving gets into the book by draining a 13-foot jumper. After Brown loose ball foul, Porzingis enters the game for Al Horford to roars from the crowd. It’s the big man’s first action in 38 days following a calf strain that’s sidelined him for 10 games. The Mavericks sub in Lively for Gifford. After play resumes, Irving cans a 16-footer off a Lively assist. Dallas are back in front by a point as the action pauses for a TV timeout.

Mavericks 9-12 Celtics; 8.15, first quarter

The Celtics win the tip and we’re off! A blistering 4-for-4 start both ways as Al Horford, Derrick Jones Jr, Jrue Holiday and Luka Dončić trade baskets. Boston grab three offensive rebounds on the next trip down but can’t convert on their four chances. Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington then score on back-to-back possessions to open a 9-5 edge, but the 38-year-old Horford drains a three to ignite the crowd. Brown and Holiday score baskets to extend a seven-point run.

Updated

The Celtics paid tribute to Bill Walton before the national anthem. They also wore shirts in the Hall of Famer’s honor during their shootaround. The two-time NBA champion died of cancer last month at the age of 71.

Updated starters

Al Horford is in for Kristaps Porzingis. Boston head coach Joe Mazulla said Porzingis won’t have any minute restrictions in Game 1, but the team is playing it safe with his conditioning and he will come off the bench for only the second time in 474 career games including the postseason.

The last time Porzingis came off the bench was on 19 January 2017.

Dallas Mavericks

F Derrick Jones Jr • 6ft 6in • 210lbs • UNLV/USA • 8th season

F PJ Washington Jr • 6ft 7in • 230lbs • Kentucky/USA • 5th season

C Daniel Gafford • 6ft 10in • 234lbs • Arkansas/USA • 5th season

G Kyrie Irving • 6ft 2in • 191lbs • Duke/USA • 13th season

G Luka Dončić • 6ft 7in • 230lbs • Real Madrid/Slovenia • 6th season

Boston Celtics

F Jayson Tatum • 6ft 8in • 210lbs • Duke/USA • 7th season

F Jaylen Brown • 6ft 6in • 220lbs • California/USA • 8th season

C Al Horford • 6ft 9in • 240lbs • Florida/Dominican Republic • 17th season

G Derrick White • 6ft 4in • 195lbs • Colorado/USA • 7th season

G Jrue Holiday • 6ft 5in • 220lbs • UCLA/USA • 15th season

Updated

Here’s a number you’ll likely hear if you catch any of tonight’s telecast: 70.1. Specifically, the team that wins Game 1 of the NBA finals has gone on to win the championship 70.1% of the time (or 54 times out of 77). Sure, that’s not always the case, but history shows that drawing first blood is important.

Some other historical scenarios:

• Teams that win Game 1 of the NBA finals at home go on to win the series 78.0% of the time (46-13)

• Teams that win Game 1 of the NBA finals on the road go on to win the series 44.4% of the time (8-10)

• Teams that win the first two games of the NBA finals go on to win the series 86.1% of the time (31-5)

• Teams that win the first two games of the NBA finals at home go on to win the series 84.4% of the time (27-5)

• Teams that win the first two games of the NBA finals on the road go on to win the series 100% of the time (2-0)

• Teams that win Game 3 of a 1-1 NBA finals go on to win the series 80.5% of the time (33-8)

• Teams that lead the NBA finals 2-1 go on to win the series 79.4% of the time (50-13)

• Teams that win the first three games of the NBA finals go on to win the series 100% of the time (14-0)

• Teams that lead the NBA finals 3-1 go on to win the series 97.3% of the time (36-1)

• Teams that win Game 5 of a 2-2 NBA finals go on to win the series 74.2% of the time (23-8)

• Teams that lead the NBA finals 3-2 go on to win the series 81.6% of the time (40-9)

• Home teams win Game 7 of the NBA finals 78.9% of the time (15-4)

Probable starters

Dallas Mavericks

F Derrick Jones Jr • 6ft 6in • 210lbs • UNLV/USA • 8th season

F PJ Washington Jr • 6ft 7in • 230lbs • Kentucky/USA • 5th season

C Daniel Gafford • 6ft 10in • 234lbs • Arkansas/USA • 5th season

G Kyrie Irving • 6ft 2in • 191lbs • Duke/USA • 13th season

G Luka Dončić • 6ft 7in • 230lbs • Real Madrid/Slovenia • 6th season

Boston Celtics

F Jayson Tatum • 6ft 8in • 210lbs • Duke/USA • 7th season

F Jaylen Brown • 6ft 6in • 220lbs • California/USA • 8th season

C Kristaps Porzingis • 7ft 3in • 240lbs • Latvia/Latvia • 9th season

G Derrick White • 6ft 4in • 195lbs • Colorado/USA • 7th season

G Jrue Holiday • 6ft 5in • 220lbs • UCLA/USA • 15th season

Preamble

Hello and welcome to Game 1 of the NBA finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. After a 10-day layoff since Boston’s clean sweep of Indiana and a full week since Dallas finished off Minnesota, we’re ready at last for some basketball to decide this year’s NBA championships.

The Celtics went 2-0 against the Mavericks during the regular season. Boston won the most recent matchup 138-110 on 2 March behind 32 points from Jayson Tatum, while Luka Dončić scored 37 points for Dallas. They also won 119-110 on the Mavericks’ court on 22 January.

This is Boston’s 23rd trip to the finals. Dallas has made it twice before, first in 2006 and again in 2011 when they scored an upset of the first edition of Miami’s superteam featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

The Celtics have gone 37-4 at home. Boston is the NBA leader with 35.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Tatum averaging 7.2.

The Mavericks have gone 25-16 away from home. Dallas ranks ninth in the Western Conference shooting 36.9% from 3-point range.

The 120.6 points per game the Celtics average are 5.0 more points than the Mavericks allow (115.6). The Mavericks are shooting 48.1% from the field, 2.8% higher than the 45.3% the Celtics’ opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tatum is shooting 47.1% and averaging 26.9 points for the Celtics. Derrick White is averaging 3.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Daniel Gafford is scoring 11.0 points per game and averaging 7.6 rebounds for the Mavericks. Doncic is averaging 29.1 points and 10.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Celtics: 9-1, averaging 113.8 points, 44.0 rebounds, 24.0 assists, 6.4 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.1 points per game.

Mavericks: 8-2, averaging 109.8 points, 43.9 rebounds, 23.5 assists, 6.1 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.7 points.

INJURIES: Celtics: None listed.

Mavericks: Olivier-Maxence Prosper: out (ankle).

Tip-off is about 40 minutes away. More to come between now and then.

Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at how the Guardian’s writers see the NBA finals playing out.

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