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Dallas had no idea that this was waiting for them in the finals. Stifling defense at every single position on the court.
Then, the X factor, Kristaps Porzingis absolutely killing the Mavs on both ends of the court.
And it all started with him in the 1st quarter.
Porzingis was on a mission to punish the matchups. Too big for Hardy as if he’s shooting over a chair.
And because of his 3 point threat, Lively has to come out way outside, far beyond his rim protecting area. And Kristaps shows that he’s too fast for him because…
The Mavs struggled to find the right matchup for him as Josh Green was also too small for him, and things really escalated towards the end of the quarter…
Thing is, as much as he provided a boost offensively, his impact might have been even bigger on the defensive end, opening up easy transition opportunities for Boston. And then, this was just spectacular…
The length of Porzingis was a huge problem for Dallas and he was able to contest and impact a lot of shots forcing a 9 for 24 quarter for Dallas.
Even when Luka and Kyrie scored, everything looked extremely difficult. So by the end of the 1st quarter Boston had a 17 point lead which was the largest 1st quarter lead in NBA finals history.
Things only got worse for Dallas when Jaylen Brown decided that it was his turn to attack the paint, leading to this…
In the meantime, Derick Jones tried his luck on Porzingis, but it was the same old story with him raising up and knocking it down.
Kristaps continued his shooting over the smaller defenders, destroying Dallas from mid range.
And he made the arena explode with this long range bomb…
28 point lead and it’s madness in Boston.
Now, throughout all this time, there’s no mention of Tatum, finishing the half with only 8 points. But he made the right plays attacking the basket and with the defense collapsing inside, he kicks it out to the shooter for the wide open three.
Or passing up a good look for a great look in the corner and another 3.
And this is not even an assist, but so important. Tatum recognizes the double team is coming and quickly reacts, as we get the swing swing into another open shot and another 3.
But he is a superstar after all so he gave us this…
A 21 point lead at halftime and a big mountain to climb for the Mavs, but in the third they started to chip away at the deficit, with Kyrie finally stringing together a few buckets, and of course Luka leading the way.
And things got scary for Celtics fans when this happened…
Wooow, the Mavs claw their way back from down by 29, and all of a sudden it’s an 8 point game. Now it’s on, the Celtics call a timeout, and how they respond out of it will be crucial for this game.
And boy, they responded with a furious run…
Unbelievable, just like that the lead is back up to 22 in the blink of an eye.
A true champion caliber response to pressure, keeping Dallas at distance going into the 4th.
If the Mavs were going to make another push for a comeback, they needed to act fast and string together another run at the beginning of the quarter.
But instead, we got this…
And this was the nail in the coffin for Dallas in game 1. With both teams subbing out their main guys, this was the signal that Boston secured game 1 at home.
If you’re a real knowledgeable NBA fan, the finals are the perfect time to join our community on rategame, to rate and review each one of this series. Game 1 was only a 5.2 for me, similar to what you guys had. And I agree with Wisconsin Badgers, the Celtics three point shooting could be a problem, they fired away 42 of them on 38% in this one.
So download the app on iphone or android from the link in the description.
Even before the finals started, I warned Dallas fans of a move that Jaylen Brown is exploiting, that many think is illegal. He could hit the Mavs with it at any moment, so you gotta check out exactly what it is right here. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.