Joe Mazzulla talks about the decision to bring Porzingis in off the bench in Game 1 of the NBA Finals
One of the main reasons why the Boston Celtics are so hard to beat is they have so many players capable of scoring 10-plus points on a given night, and that was evident in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals on Thursday night.
The Celtics earned a 107-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden with a total team effort offensively. Jaylen Brown led the team in scoring with 22 points. He was one of six Boston players who scored in double digits, and Sam Hauser was pretty close with eight points.
The Celtics' depth also allowed them to set a new Finals record. They became the first team in Finals history to have seven players make two or more 3-point shots in a single game, per NBC Sports Boston's Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe.
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Here's the full breakdown of the Celtics players who hit at least one 3-pointer in Game 1:
- Jayson Tatum: 3-of-7
- Derrick White: 3-of-8
- Al Horford: 2-of-5
- Jrue Holiday: 2-of-5
- Kristaps Porzingis: 2-of-4
- Sam Hauser: 2-of-2
- Jaylen Brown: 2-of-6
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The Celtics as a team shot 16-of-42 (38.1 percent) from 3-point range, improving their record to 69-8 this season (including the playoffs) when they make more than 32 percent of their 3-pointers.
The Celtics entered the Finals ranked No. 1 in both 3-point shots made and attempted per game during the playoffs. This likely will be a short series if the Celtics continue to hit 35-plus percent of their 3-pointers, especially if they take 40 or more of them each game.