The Boston Celtics were rolling on all cylinders vs. the Dallas Mavericks as they came away with the 107-89 Game 1 victory Thursday night.
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This means Kyrie is now 0-11 vs. his previous teammates and hasn't beat them since 2021.
Kyrie Irving is now 0-11 against the Celtics since the series where he stomped on lucky the logo.
The curse continues… pic.twitter.com/Ve69OKCcYU
— CelticsUnite (@CelticsUnite18) June 7, 2024
The Celtics are used to blowing out teams, as they have dominated their opponents all season long. To emphasize, they have won more games by 40+ (4), and 30+ point deficits (10) than have lost games by 10+ points (2). This speaks to both their defense and offense efficiency, in particular, when looking at the Celtics' three-point shooting, they led the league with more than 16 made 3's per game during the 2023-24 season.
On that same note, in Game 1, seven different players knocked down multiple threes, as the team shot 16-for-41 from deep.
To point out, the Celtics defense was also relentless, as they actually had the same amount of blocks as the Mavericks had assists.
The Celtics had as many blocks as the Mavs had assists in Game 1 😳 pic.twitter.com/pw7Og8CYQz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 7, 2024
And the difference maker on both ends of the floor was none other than the former Mavericks big man, 7'3" Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 20 points (8-for-13 shooting), six rebounds, and three blocks.
Dominant 30-second stretch by the Celtics:
-Kristaps Porzingis above the break 3
-Porzingis blocks Kyrie Irving
-Sam Hauser corner 3The Porzingis Effect! pic.twitter.com/M0SegUnOzp
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) June 7, 2024
Porzingis missed the last two playoff series due to a calf strain, so he came off the bench in Game 1. Nevertheless, he seemed ready and raring to go, as the 28-year-old Latvian put up 18 of his 20 points in the first half.
The Celtics adding Porzingis back to the lineup pic.twitter.com/UGEVLR7hyp
— Boston Diehards (@Boston_Diehards) June 7, 2024
The Celtics were leading the Mavs by 17 points after the first quarter, which actually is the most all-time in NBA Finals history. With this in mind, what's even more scary is that the Celtics' best player, Jayson Tatum, was held scoreless until making a three-pointer with a minute left in the first quarter. Tatum ended the game with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field.
The Celtics are 5-0 when Jayson Tatum shoots below 40 FG% this playoffs. pic.twitter.com/K4Y35caWWP
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 7, 2024
Kyrie came into the series with the eighth most points scored in Finals history (27.7), but only finished Game 1 with 12 points (6-of-19) vs. his former team.
Despite losing, Kyrie said the Boston crowd was quieter then he anticipated, "I thought it was going to be a little louder in here."
Boston fans may now have motivation to bump up the decibels for Game 2 of the series, which will take place Sunday, June 9 at 8:00 pm ET in TD Garden.
Notably, the Celtics have made the Finals 23 times in franchise history, and have won 15 of the Game 1's coming into the 2024 Finals. That is to say, 13 out of the 15 times they have won Game 1, Boston went on to win a championship.
Related: Celtics Advance To NBA Finals, As Fans Await Their Anticipated Opponent: 'F*** Kyrie'
