2024 NBA Finals Game 1 Notes

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is in the books, and the Celtics won 107-89.  Outside of the end of the second quarter and start of the third quarter, when Dallas went on a run, Boston dominated the game.  While the final deficit was deflated due to garbage time, it was consistently in the 20’s before then.

  

1^st Quarter

• The drive by Al Horford is massive and that is a big part of having the stretch offense; there was nobody in the paint
• Even though they didn’t score, I’m interested in how the offensive rebounding will go in this game.  Dallas won’t be able to win if they give up so many offensive boards
• I like Dallas’s adjustment by having Derrick Jones setting screens on Doncic, since they normally h is what they’ve done
• I’m slightly surprised that Porzingis came in as early as he did.  I’m not surprised he came off the bench
• We’re watching this game on the ESPN stream.  The quality is so bad and I think that it’s because there are so many people watching this.  If you get observations that discuss a fuzzy player making a play, just know that is what happened
• I’m surprised it took 5 minutes to get a shooting foul.  Neither team fouls that much, but someone usually stumbles into one earlier.  I think the only foul prior was the one against Jaylen Brown on Kyrie
• I have no idea how Doncic just scored that layup in triple coverage
• I think Tatum making the pass to White in the corner is a great example of his development as a playmaker
• I like having Porzingis on Derrick Jones.  I hoped that they would put their bigs on him since Jones isn’t the most willing shooter.  Even if they leave him open, he prefers to drive, which gives the bigs space to prepare, especially since Jones is an amazing athlete
• Part of me wishes that the audio would also be weird.  It makes no sense, but I think it would be funny
• I’m not sure if having their bigs on Kristaps Porzingis is the best move.  It sounds ridiculous, but maybe having them on Jrue Holiday makes more sense due to shooting
• They appear to be allowing a lot of fouls; there were like 3 that I’m still confused what happened
• It’s interesting that almost every play Doncic brings the ball up results in someone setting a screen to get him onto Kristaps Porzingis or Sam Hauser.  That’s the best matchup out of everyone on the court, but eventually you’d think the Celtics would catch on.  I’d rather exploit this in the fourth quarter of a game than do this in the literal first quarter of the series since having these types of adjustments is important as the series goes on
• Even though Kristaps Porzingis was in the area, Josh Green just passed up an open layup.  He’s always been a bit of a hesitant shooter, but he passed up an open 3 earlier as well
• My fiancé, Victoria, just said “I’m so happy he’s on our team” when Kristaps Porzingis drilled a big 3.  I couldn’t agree.  My dog, Roger, responded by moving to lay on the floor (next to me)
• I thought Porzingis’s final block of the quarter was a foul at first, but upon seeing the replay, I realize I was sorely mistaken
• Boston has been unbelievably aggressive so far.  This is what I kind of expected multiple games of the series to look going into the series, which is why I was so surprised that a lot of people who do this for a career were predicting Dallas would win

 

Quarter 2

• I know I’m supposed to hate Kyrie Irving as a Boston fan, but his handle and finishing ability is so nasty
• I enjoyed the ref trying to hide from the ball.  I feel you, I’d be the same
• Jaylen Brown is so good at making difficult shots; he makes it look so easy
• I wonder how long Dallas will continue just setting screens to get Doncic onto Hauser or the big.  You’d think eventually they’d realize this hasn’t been working as well as they’re making this out to be
• The play that resulted in Peyton Pritchard attempting a deep heave was easily Dallas’s best defensive play of the entire game.  They especially did a nice job with recovering on an open player quickly.  It isn’t easy to do, but that is the key to limiting Boston’s offense; nobody talks about this since Boston’s offense is unreal, but probably 40-50% of the plays are centered around a drive-and-kick
• It makes me laugh when they discuss the rebounding discrepancy of a blowout game.  Obviously the team up by 19 has more rebounds; there are more defensive rebounding opportunities
• I expected Boston would tempt P.J. Washington to shoot 3’s.  He was elite against OKC from deep, but he shot 31% with Dallas during the season and 25% against Minnesota
• His endurance will without doubt be impacted, but Porzingis has looked amazing so far.  He’s been able to play elite in bursts, which is an absolute game changer for Boston this series
• Derrick Jones’s layup is an example of why I figure the best thing to do is to position himself further from him to let him drive.  Holiday ran out to him, but Jones wasn’t planning to shoot the 3; he just drove right past him
• I’m glad I looked up when Jaylen Brown got the steal and the dunk.  I was starting to think nothing would happen, but I happened to look up
• I wasn’t looking closely when Kleber got called for a moving screen and thought it was Doncic.  Oops, wrong white guy
• I love how Boston’s guards utilize the dunker spot.  Most guards don’t do that, but it really is a nice added element of their offense that is difficult to defend.  In particular, having Derrick White and Jrue Holiday there is nice since their both so strong
• It makes me laugh when the broadcasters are talking about how bad Dallas is shooting from 3.  Maybe that happens when P.J. Washington is taking a ton of 3’s.
• I like the timeout call by Mazzulla.  Even though it’s a blowout, you really don’t want the team to get complacent, especially considering Boston has blown big leads in the past
• I’m glad Tatum wasn’t called for a tech on his dunk.  They would have earlier in the season since they were emphasizing not hanging on the rim, but they were ignoring the fact that players need to land.  I started to wonder if they wanted players to be injured
• Roger has totally conked out.  He’ll be very excited for halftime since I can bring him out and he can go to bed (he insists I be the one to bring him outside and Victoria be the one to snuggle with him)
• Even though Boston is up big at the half, it’s worth noting that Dallas’s offense looked really good later on.  That said, Porzingis looks absolutely incredible, as does Brown

 

Quarter 3

• Dallas has come out strong offensively; even though they were 2-4, they had 3 attempts at the rim, including a putback by Gafford.  Boston needs to make are they alert to boxing him out
• I know the shot missed, but Boston can’t have 2 guys close out on an open P.J. Washington from 3 and allow Kyrie Irving to have an open look
• That was a heads up play by Derrick White to get the offensive rebound.  He happened to get into perfect position for the ball that went straight down based on where it hit the rim.  That was needed for Boston since they haven’t hit anything to start this quarter (figuratively, since I think they hit one shot)
• I don’t get why Boston had Derrick White guarding P.J. Washington.  That feels like something that got messed up, since Washington can drive right into the paint in that situation.
• Boston appears to be coasting a bit, which I was afraid of entering the half.  I’m especially concerned when they literally just used up the entire shot clock coming off of a timeout.
• I think Boston should put their bigs on P.J. Washington.  Washington has figured out that he has an advantage against White, and he’s also less likely to set a screen on Doncic.  I don’t get why they’re not making any sort of adjustments.
• All I could think when Lively was called for the foul on Porzingis was it looked like they were dancing
• I liked the drive that Tatum had to the rim.  They needed a look at the rim since their 3 has not been falling; normally, Boston doesn’t know how to adjust unless their players realize they need to drive
• White has been struggling defensively.  I think they need to take him out and put in literally anyone else.  They’re targeting him almost as much as they are going at Porzingis
• I’m saying this now with 4:27 left in the third:  Dallas is going to win by at least 15.  I would think that eventually the Celtics would realize that they need to stop dogging it, but maybe last year’s Celtics team is back, which was the one that didn’t care about winning
• That was such a chaotic play that resulted in Lively got called for a travel.  I don’t know what Mike Breen is talking about by saying that he was set, when he slid and moved both feet early upon getting possession
• That’s tough, Lively picking up a 4^th foul already.  I think it’s a good idea to keep him in still
• The travel called on Irving might set a record for most travels called in a quarter
• Porzingis cutting in is such a good play, especially after Tatum got the rebound.  That is the type of play they needed
• The 5^th foul on Lively is a tough call.  I’m genuinely not sure if that was, but I doubt it would be overturned
• The play that resulted in a block on Jones was a really nice defensive possession by the Celtics.  They did a really good job recovering on open defenders very quickly.  This happened after Brown got a crucial block, and Boston made the most of it.
• I’m not sure that I would have called a timeout when Jason Kidd did.  I know it was an 8-0 run that brought the game back to 16, but I feel like Dallas has still gotten nice looks
• I feel like Dallas has had rotten luck on 3’s.  They’ve had some really good looks that haven’t fallen; even Doncic and Irving have missed some open 3’s
• Remember what I said about predicting that Dallas would win by 15?  Boston is now up by 15 and Brown just had yet another block.  I might be a tiny bit off by that
• I’ve always laughed about how Horford rushes to inbound the ball after a controversial call.  That’s the right thing to do since you don’t want to give them the opportunity to challenge if you’re not sure
• That was the strangest quarter I remember seeing.  I went from thinking “Dallas will win” to “Boston will win”.  On the other hand, Victoria and Roger went to bed

 

Quarter 4

• Geez, 20-5 on the assist totals is comical.  I know that Boston plays less isolation when they’re clicking, but that’s wild.  9-1 on the block shot totals is also so chaotic.
• I don’t get how the drive Tatum just made resulted in no foul Dallas ball.  Irving reached in and Tatum lost the ball.  I understand both teams being annoyed
• I liked the choices Boston just made of the decisions of when to double Doncic.  It might sound like a minor thing, but you want to double late when defending a bit playmaker, especially one with court vision as impressive as Luka’s
• I don’t know what Tatum was doing trying to chase after the steal on a play where Dallas was pushing in transition.  If he got the steal, people would praise him for his defense, but I’d argue it was a stupid play that allowed a path to the rim.  Boston is lucky they missed the alley-oop pass.
• I don’t get why the broadcasters are calling P.J. Washington shooting any 3 a good look.  I know it might sound like I’m being hard on him, but that’s literally what you want to do if you’re Boston; his jumper is so streaky, so any shots from him means that Doncic and Irving are not taking a shot
• I feel like Dallas’s offense has just been rotating between Doncic and Irving.  As good as they are in isolation, Boston has a lot of defenders who are good at defending iso plays due to strength and size
• I feel like both teams have struggled from the line, which is weird to see
• Dallas has tried to do a zone, seemingly out of desperation, but Boston has been good at exploiting it.  In particular, Holiday did a nice job of moving from the dunker spot to behind the arc, especially since the defender (I think it was Washington, but I might be wrong) followed Horford the entire drive in
• Okay, I wrote that note, and then the broadcasters discussed the same thing.  I guess it’s time to mute the TV, especially with Roger and Victoria both being fast asleep (they are both early birds, and it’s already 10:40)
• This game has been a nightmare for Dallas.  I’m glad I can relax a bit, especially since both Doncic and Irving are now out
• I honestly love Jaden Hardy.  His shot looks so funky, but he is so aggressive with his shot.  I honestly think he can be a special player.  I was shocked when he slipped to 37^th in 2022, since I thought he was a top-20 talent
• Victoria was telling me that some of her coworkers were considering going to a pride parade in Boston on Sunday.  That’s when Game 2 is.  Considering how Game 1 has been, I feel safe asking if these people are insane
• I heard someone on a podcast today (I can’t remember which podcast, so I’m sorry I can’t give them the deserved credit) that Doncic could have an underwhelming game yet still finish with like 25-30 points.  That happened tonight; he went 12-26 but had 30 points.
• I wonder if the refs want to be done with the game as much as fans do when it’s a blowout game.  A foul with 1:49 left would make me respond with “seriously?  I have to call this foul when the game doesn’t matter anymore?”  What’s worse is that it would be included in the 2-minute report if they don’t call it
• That’s Game 1!  Outside of the end of the 2^nd and first half of the 3^rd, Boston dominated the entire game.  While I expect a lot of people will assume the series will be a sweep, I don’t think that’s fair, especially since Irving couldn’t hit open shots.  That said, I think this shows that maybe the people who thought Dallas would win the series due to Boston’s easy path weren’t considering just how good Boston is.  I still think Game 2 will be closer.

 

 

What did you think of this game?  Anything you’re looking forward to in Game 2?  Let me know in the comments!