scored 22 points, Kristaps Porzingis added 20 in his first game in more than a month and the Boston Celtics powered past the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. https://www.wpri.com/sports/celtics/brown-has-22-porzingis-returns-with-20-as-celtics-open-nba-finals-with-107-89-win-over-mavericks
The Boston Celtics put on a clinic in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, blowing out the Dallas Mavericks 107-89. But the Mavs did make things interesting at one point, cutting the Celtics’ 21-point halftime lead to eight in the third quarter. Boston quickly squashed Dallas’ run, however, and according to Jrue Holiday, the Celtics have Jaylen Brown to thank.
“Staying poised,” Holiday told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin of how the Celtics refused to let Dallas back into the game. “JB telling us to stay poised, Al [Horford] telling us to stay poised because we know that runs happen in this game and 20 points is nothing, so we withstood the punch and got [the lead] back up to 20
While the 38-year-old Horford’s leadership comes as no surprise, it seems Brown has truly emerged as a leader since the departure of Marcus Smart. Coming off an Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Pacers that earned him Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Brown has made it clear with his Game 1 performance that he has no indication of slowing down.
