BOSTON — Twenty years after the Seven-Seconds-or-Less Phoenix Suns shook up the NBA with an offense the likes of which the league had never seen or tried to defend before, the Boston Celtics have taken things to the next level.
Behold the perfect modern NBA offense, matching 3-point volume and efficacy with ruthlessly efficient midrange shooting, with the occasional drives, dives and triples from the best forward tandem in the league in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown crushing opponents’ will.
The Celtics did the same thing to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday that they’ve done to opposing defenses all season. They stretched the Mavs to the breaking point, then broke them behind a barrage of first-half 3s and a sensational return to action from Kristaps Porziņģis. Even after Dallas cut a 29-point first-half deficit to 8 midway through the third quarter, Boston had plenty left in the tank to stretch its lead right back to 20 and put away Game 1, 107-89.
Like a great boxer, Boston just bludgeons you with punches from all angles and speeds. Thursday, it was Porziņģis — in his first action since straining his calf in Game 1 of the first round against the Miami Heat in April — who set the tone off the bench. Dallas threw everyone it could at the 7-foot-2 big man: Luka Dončić, Derrick Jones, Jaden Hardy, rookie Dereck Lively II. No one slowed him, much less stopped him; Porziņģis made 7 of 9 shots and scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half, raining jumpers from the elbows and nail. The Cs made 16 of 42 from deep, including three quick ones to end the third quarter and put the Mavericks right back in their place after getting within 72-64.
At the same time, Brown was turning the game back in Boston’s favor as well by drawing Lively’s fourth and fifth personal fouls within a minute, forcing Dallas to bench its big man, who defends best in space.
“When a team goes on a run, you got to manage it, you got to stay composed, and you got to keep playing basketball,” Brown said of that end-of-quarter stretch. “It’s almost like you just have short-term memory a little bit, like the team’s not even on a run. You got to play smart basketball and make great plays to get us on a (run), get our flow back, and I think in that third quarter, I got to the free-throw line. I think that helped us get going. Then we made some kick-outs to the corner. Al (Horford) got a 3. We was able to get some good offense going.”
GO FURTHER
The Celtics might have perfected the modern NBA offense: Unending 3s and midrange firepower