But after coming off the bench for just the second time in his career, he immediately made up for lost time. Porziņģis put up eight points early in the first quarter, including a huge early dunk after he blew past Dereck Lively II and a bucket in the face of Josh Green. That put the Celtics up by double digits and forced an early Mavericks timeout in the first period.
PORZINGIS TURNING UP IN THE 1ST ???? pic.twitter.com/yYk6kEAnr0
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 7, 2024
He then came out of the timeout, drilled a very deep 3-pointer and immediately came up with a block on the other end to set up another 3-pointer for the Celtics. Just like that, after a 23-5 run, the Celtics were up by 17 points. That marked the largest lead after the first quarter in a Game 1 in NBA Finals history.
Porziņģis and the Celtics kept it going in the second quarter and easily took a 21-point lead into the locker room at the break. They opened the second quarter on a 21-11 run, took a brief 29-point lead and made 11 3-pointers in the first 24 minutes. Porziņģis had 18 points and shot 7-of-9 from the field in the first half. The Mavericks, on the other hand, went just 3-of-13 from the 3-point line.
Despite the huge deficit early, Dallas started cutting away at Boston’s lead slowly in the third quarter. Then, after a few huge buckets from Kyrie Irving and a clutch 3-pointer from Dončić to cap a 20-6 run, it was suddenly an eight-point game.
29 POINT LEAD IS DOWN TO EIGHT. Luka has 27 points ????(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/QxOL2ApE0u
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 7, 2024
