(Boston) Jaylen Brown provided 22 points and the Boston Celtics opened the NBA Finals with a 107-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
Brown also had three steals and three blocks.
Returning to the game after more than a month of absence, Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and three blocks.
The seven-foot Latvian missed 10 games with a left calf strain.
He hadn’t played since April 29.
He left in Game 4 of the first-round series, against Miami, then missed the next two rounds.
Acquired in the offseason, Porzingis averaged 20 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game this season. Injuries, however, limited him to 57 games.
Jayson Tatum added 16 points, one more than Derrick White.
Luka Doncic scored 30 points for the visitors. No other Mavericks player had more than 14 points (P.J. Washington).
Game 2 is Sunday at 8 p.m., again at TD Garden.
The Celtics deserved an eighth win in a row, stopping the Mavericks’ road winning streak at five.
The Mavericks led 15-14, but they were eventually penalized for several nervous and rushed plays near the basket. White hit back-to-back three-pointers and Boston kept that momentum going, finishing the first quarter with a 37-20 cushion. At halftime, the Celtics led 63-42.
Dallas did well in the third quarter with a 19-9 surge, closing to within eight points. The Celtics calmed things down after a timeout and took an 80-64 lead on a three-pointer from Tatum with 1:52 left in the period.
