Paul Pierce aims stinging comeback at Celtics doubters after Game 1 victory over Mavericks
On Thursday night, the Boston Celtics won Game 1 of the NBA Finals in convincing fashion. Following this dominant outing, one former player kept his response to the critics short and to the point.
Heading into the series, many fans and analysts picked the Dallas Mavericks on top. After his former team was able to strike first, Paul Pierce took to X (formerly Twitter) to gauge how everyone is feeling now.
"Why everyone so quiet today," Pierce wrote.
Despite a strong outing from Luka Doncic, the Celtics were able to take Game 1 by a final score of 107-89. They were led by Jaylen Brown, who scored a team-high 22 points on 58.3% shooting. One of the biggest takeaways was Kristaps Porzingis in his first game back from injury. Taking on his former team, he notched 20 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.
Doncic did what he could to lead the charge for the Mavericks, but got little help from the supporting cast. Aside from his 30 points, the next highest scorer was P.J. Washington with 14. Kyrie Irving struggled in Game 1, recording 12 points on 6-for-19 shooting.
The two teams have a few days to regroup as Game 2 is set for 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday.
Boston Celtics set NBA Finals record in Game 1 win vs Mavericks
There are many factors that can be attributed to the Boston Celtics' Game 1 win over the Dallas Mavericks. One of the main things that stands out is 3-point shooting.
In the modern NBA, the 3-point shot has become the focal point of most offenses. Game 1 is a clear indication of how quickly a team can fall behind if they fail to keep pace with their opponent from deep. When the final buzzer sounded, Boston (16) had connected on nine more 3-pointers than Dallas (7).
Game 1 was a strong shooting night for the Celtics as a whole, as they connected on 16 of their 42 attempts. With this performance, they managed to set a new NBA Finals record. On Thursday night, seven different players for Boston recorded two or more made 3s.
Jayson Tatum and Derrick White each led the charge for Boston with three made 3s.
With the offensive firepower on their roster, Boston is going to keep opening up the floor and letting it fly from deep. If the Mavs want any chance at tying the series, they'll need to try to match Boston's production in Game 2.