Kristaps Porzingis provides instant spark in NBA Finals return

The Kristaps Porzignis injury saga finally came to an end on Thursday. After missing 10 games and over a month of time due to a calf injury he suffered in Game 4 of the first round, Porzingis finally returned to the floor as the Boston Celtics hosted the Dallas Mavericks for Game 1 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden.

As speculation built during the week leading up to the Finals that Porzingis would play, there were questions about just how ready he'd be - and how effective he could be - after missing so much time. Porzingis himself didn't do much to dissuade any doubt when he gave a non-committal answer to a question about his readiness at media day on Wednesday.

Porzingis didn't start on Thursday, marking just the second time in 474 career games he'd come off the bench.

"From day one I came here and I said like I'll do whatever it takes to help this team win," Porzingis said after the game when asked about coming off the bench. "This situation, you know, it made sense. I didn't care. I knew I could prepare to come off the bench, which is something different for me, and that's what I did and stepped into that role and embraced it and had a good game."

Head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters after the game that he had Porzingis come off the bench because he "thought it gave us the best chance to win."

"We had a conversation and just came up to me, I know he knew I was going to be fine with whatever," Porzingis said, when asked how he found out he wouldn't be starting.

Once he did check into the game though, Porzingis quickly put any questions about readiness or rust to rest. With 7:17 to go in the opening quarter, Porzingis was the first Celtics sub to enter the game. At that point Dallas led 13-12.

However, that lead didn't last long. The Celtics went on a 24-8 run to close out the quarter - a run Porzingis was heavily involved in. In the first quarter alone he scored 11 points while recording three rebounds and two blocks.

"That first quarter when I checked in and things started going my way and stuff, I didn't even think about it," Porzingis said when asked after the game if he felt any pressure in returning. "I was so in the moment and enjoying the moment and the crowd and everything."

On top of that, Porzingis credited the crowd for helping him get through the game. That began before tip-off, when he walked out onto the court late, with the TD Garden video board showing him approaching through the tunnel. That brought the crow to their feet.

"I think obviously what helped me is, even from the walk out before the game and then getting on the court, getting that kind of support was unreal," he said after the game. "The adrenaline was pumping through my veins and that definitely helped."

The first quarter was Porzingis' best, but he continued to impact the game throughout. He finished with 20 points - second only to Jaylen Brown's 22 for the team lead - on 8-of-13 shooting while hitting two of his four three-point attempts. At the rim Porzingis grabbed six rebounds and finished with three blocks.

But perhaps the most notable number from Porzingis' stat line is his minutes played. As impactful as he felt in Game 1, he was only on the floor for 20:34 of game time. That relatively limited workload likely helped him ease back in conditioning-wise, and should have him fresher as he looks to make a similar impact in Game 2.

Even with his impressive performance, Porzingis still said he had his doubts about his physical condition heading into the game, which is why he hesitated when asked the question on Wednesday.

"It's hard to say because like all these thoughts went through my mind in that moment," he explained.
Like, what do I answer? I want to say I'm fine, but obviously I haven't played, I haven't been out there, I haven't had the feel of like am I a hundred percent."

"Tonight was an affirmation to myself, that I'm pretty good," Porzingis continued. "Maybe I'm not perfect, but I'm pretty good and I can play like this and I can definitely add to this team."

Kristaps Porzingis will look to continue to 'add to this team' on Sunday, when the Celtics will have a chance to take a commanding lead in Game 2 at TD Garden. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. ET with pregame coverage beginning at 7:00 on 98.5 The Sports Hub and the BetMGM Celtics Radio Network.

Keep scrolling for more on the Celtics' Game 1 win...

Finally the NBA Finals have started, on Thursday night at the Garden the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks faced off in game 1 of the NBA Finals. Boston heads into game 1 with a dominating 12-2 record in the postseason as the #1 seed in the entire NBA. While Dallas the #5 seed in the Western Conference has surprised some fans by getting this far but has looked very impressive doing so. Will Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving be able to keep their magic going against the high powered Celtics roster and make a series out of the Finals? The big news coming out of pregame was that Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis would not be on a minutes restriction after missing the last few weeks with a calf strain, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla wouldn't comment on whether he was going to start or not but this was good news for Celtics fans heading into the start of the series.

Celtics fans would learn 30 minutes before tip off that Kristaps Porzingis would come off the bench in game 1 and Al Horford would stay in the starting lineup as he was in Porzingis' absence. The Celtics would win the tip and get a big dunk from Al Horford to start the NBA Finals. Luka Doncic would hit his first jumper of the night to tie the game at 5 with 10:45 to go in the first quarter. The Mavericks would start the game 2-2 from the field while Boston struggled a little early shooting 2-7 to start the game after a few offensive rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis would make his NBA Finals debut 5 minutes into the game coming in for Al Horford with Dallas leading 13-12. Derrick White would make his impact early hitting back to back 3's to give Boston a 20-15 lead with 5:55 to go in the first. Porzingis would get his first points off the night off a pair of free throws, drawing a foul on Luka Doncic giving Boston a 22-15 lead.

Porzingis would really make his presence known after hitting back to back buckets to give Boston their first double digit lead of the game 28-18 with 2:20 to go in the quarter. Jayson Tatum who was quiet for most of the first quarter would hit a 3 pointer with 1:37 to go to give Boston a 31-20 lead. Boston would continue to take advantage of their mismatches offensively hitting multiple 3's and getting huge blocks from Porzingis to end the quarter leading 37-20 at the end of one. Boston went on a 23-5 run to end the quarter led by Porzingis on both ends.

Boston entered the second quarter leading by 17 with Tatum and Brown only scoring 7 points in the first quarter a great sign for the Celtics. Boston would stay hot from deep with Sam Hauser hitting his second 3-pointer of the night to extend Boston's lead to 42-24 with 10:19 to go in the half. Porzingis would continue to be all over the place in game one hitting back to back jumpers to give him 15 points to go along with 3 rebounds and two blocks with 6:29 to go in the half and extending the Celtics lead to 48-27.

Dallas would try and slow the game down halfway through the second to try and cut into Boston's lead but Boston's defense was ready for the challenge early in this one. Jaylen Brown would hit a 3-pointer then get a breakaway dunk off a steal to give Boston a 53-29 lead with 5:01 to go in the half and it was all Celtics in the first half. Dallas would chip away a little at the Boston lead at the end of the quarter but did they already dig themselves too big of a hole? Dallas would cut Boston's lead to 63-42 at the half after a Doncic 3 pointer late in the quarter. 

Dallas would continue to try and chip away at the Boston lead early in the third quarter getting it to 18 10:06 left in the quarter. Boston would come out of the half a little slow on both ends letting Dallas back into the game early with a couple bad turnovers and missed defensive assignments. The Mavericks would force Joe Mazzulla to call a timeout with 7:43 left in the quarter after PJ Washington hit a jumper to cut Boston's lead to 68-52. Jayson Tatum's NBA Finals turnover issues reared their ugly head again in the third quarter as he was up to six and a big reason why Dallas was chipping away at the lead. 

Luka Doncic would start to catch fire in the third quarter as he was up to 24 points after a tough jumper to make Boston's lead 72-59 with 5:33 to go in the third. Doncic would stay hot hitting another 3 pointer to make it a single digit lead for Boston for the first time since the first quarter. Boston would start to settle down a little as the quarter went on a Jayson Tatum offensive rebound led to an easy Porzingis dunk then Jaylen Brown would get fouled after a Celtics defensive stop to slow down Dallas' momentum. Boston would go back up 77-64 with 2:44 to go in the third after a pair of Jaylen free throws. Tatum who was making his impact felt everywhere but the offensive end would hit a 3 pointer to cap off a Celtics 8-0 run to extend the lead back up to 16, 80-64 with 1:51 to go in the quarter. 

Jaylen Brown would continue his great performance in game 1 hitting back to back massive buckets after a block at the rim on the other end to cap off a 14-0 Celtics run. Boston looked lost for most of the quarter but Brown, Porzingis, Horford and Tatum showed up huge late in the third to get the Celtics headed back in the right direction. Boston would head to the 4th leading by 20 points again 86-66 looking to take a decisive 1-0 series lead. 

Jaylen would continue to stay hot early in the fourth hitting the first basket of the quarter trying to leave no doubt in the Celtics lead. The teams would trade blows early in the fourth but with Boston leading by 20 to start the quarter Dallas would need to do a lot more than just trade baskets with Boston. Derrick White would hit a layup with 8:34 to go in the game to extend Boston's lead back up to 21. Dallas' defense wasn't getting enough stops to cut into Boston's lead, the teams would continue to trade baskets throughout the quarter with an Al Horford layup after a Tatum offensive rebound would put Boston up 96-75 with 6:09 to go. 

Jrue Holiday one of the big offseason acquisitions by Celtics GM Brad Stevens was making his impact felt on both ends all night, as he'd hit a 3 pointer to make it 99-75 with 5:28 to go in the game and Boston getting closer to that ever important 1-0 series lead. Boston wouldn't let up as the quarter went on leading by 20 for most of the 4th, Jason Kidd would basically wave the white flag with 5 minutes to go taking Irving and Doncic out of the game as the Mavericks couldn't get any closer. Boston would continue to do everything right in the fourth going up 105-84 with 1:49 to go coasting to a 1-0 series lead with game 2 set for Sunday night at the Garden. The Celtics would go on to win by 107-89 dominating for large stretches of the game and making it look easy at times, if Dallas is going to rebound in game 2 their defense is going to need to make massive adjustments.