June 7, 2024 - Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s veteran center Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t going to let a 37-day layoff slow him down during the biggest game of his NBA career.

Playing in the NBA Finals for the first time, the Celtics big man returned from a 10-game absence to record 20 points off the bench and Boston snuffed a second-half rally to beat the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 on Thursday night in Game 1.

Porzingis hadn’t played since April 29 due to a right calf strain that he sustained during Game 4 of the Celtics’ first-round series against the Miami Heat. He quickly found his groove again, though, making 8 of 13 field-goal attempts while collecting six rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes.

“Even if I have time off, I can jump right back in and I feel the same way,” Porzingis said. “I get to my spots … so whether it’s playoffs, regular season or whatever, I know how to do this. That’s it, just having that confidence, going out there whatever, first round or Finals, just going out there with full confidence and giving what I have to the team.”

Porzingis’ early efforts helped the Celtics lead by as much as 29 points late in the first half, but Dallas got back into the game thanks to a third-quarter outburst headlined by Luka Doncic.

The star guard accounted for 10 points during the Mavericks’ 22-9 surge to open the frame, with his 3-pointer cutting Dallas’ deficit to 72-64 with 4:28 to go.

The Celtics responded emphatically, rattling off the next 14 points to take a 22-point lead.

Daniel Gafford closed the third with a pair of free throws to get Dallas within 20, but the Mavericks trailed by at least 17 for the entirety of the fourth.

Even though the Mavericks weren’t able to recover completely, Dallas coach Jason Kidd was still able to take some positives out of the comeback bid.

“A lot of good things in that third and fourth that we can build on,” said Kidd, whose team outscored Boston in both of those periods. “That’s what we talked about after the game, and that’s what we have to do.

“We came out and won the third. Had a great opportunity to cut into that lead. Unfortunately, they go on a run. Once we cut it to eight, but then you know we won the fourth. So there are two positive things that we can take from these four quarters.”

Game 2 is set for Sunday night in Boston.

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 22 points and added six boards, three steals and three blocks. Jayson Tatum chipped in 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Derrick White netted 15 points.

Thursday’s victory gave Tatum flashbacks of the 2022 Finals, in which Boston downed the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 before going on to drop the series in six games. Because of that, Tatum is focused on making sure the Celtics don’t ease up on Sunday.

“It definitely does feel good to win the first game,” Tatum said, “but we know that two years ago we won the first game and the outcome of that series. So we still have a lot of work to do.”

Doncic recorded 30 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas, which was outshot 47.6 percent to 41.7 percent overall. P.J. Washington went for 14 points, Jaden Hardy scored 13 and Kyrie Irving, showered with boos all night, had 12.

“I thought it was going to be a little louder in here, but I’m expecting the same things going into Game 2,” said Irving, who signed with the Brooklyn Nets instead of re-signing with the Celtics in June 2019. “Crowd trying to get me out of my element, my teammates out of my element.”

Although Porzingis didn’t draw the start, he wasted no time setting the tone after checking in with 7:17 left in the first quarter.

The big man tortured his former team, scoring 11 points and blocking a pair of shots in the period to lift the Celtics to a 37-20 advantage. No team has ever built a larger lead in the first quarter of Game 1 in Finals history.

Boston kept pouring it on, using a 14-2 run to go up 58-29 with 4:11 remaining in the second quarter. However, Doncic erupted for nine points over the final four minutes of the first half, helping the Mavericks pull within 63-42 by the break.

– Field Level Media

CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The White Sox of Chi-town will attempt to win for the first time since May 21 when they face the visiting Boston Red Sox on Friday night in the second game of their four-game series.

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Boston opened the series with a 14-2 victory Thursday. That was Chicago’s 14th straight defeat, which broke the franchise record for consecutive losses in a season, set 100 years ago.

“It’s difficult, but today is over,” Chicago’s Paul DeJong said following Thursday’s loss. “We can flush it and prepare to win (Friday). That’s all we can really do is control what we can do in the moment. Right now the game’s over. Just go home and rest and get ready to go (Friday).

“Today could be a little different based on the score of the game, but overall I think in the last week we’ve been playing a lot of tight games and just can’t quite pull out that small margin of victory. I think we have to do everything we can each day to win a game. I think that’s what other teams are doing to us, and we have to match that intensity.”

Philadelphia holds the MLB record for consecutive losses in a season — 23 in 1961. Baltimore holds the American League record with 21 straight in 1988.

Chicago has been outscored 97-45 during its 14-game losing streak. The White Sox have lost 18 of their past 19 games.

Boston led 3-0 after two innings Thursday and 7-0 after four.

“We just got down early,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “They came out swinging it, and we faced a pretty good pitcher (Tanner Houck). We just have to regroup and get back after it.”

The White Sox haven’t won since they beat Toronto 5-0 on May 21 to end a four-game losing streak. Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who was the winning pitcher in that game, is scheduled to start Friday for Chicago.

Crochet (5-5, 3.49 ERA) is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in four career relief appearances (three innings) against the Red Sox.

Right-hander Cooper Criswell (3-2, 3.92) is Boston’s probable starter. Criswell didn’t figure into the decision in his only career appearance against the White Sox. He allowed a run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings on April 21, 2023, while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays.

“He’ll give us at least five, probably more,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “The pitching has been good.”

The Red Sox hit three home runs and collected a season-high 24 hits in Thursday’s win. Each of the 11 Boston players who came to the plate had at least one hit. Ceddanne Rafaela led the offense with four hits and four RBIs.

Rafaela leads major league rookies with 37 RBIs.

“It’s nice to see that the hard work we put in pays off,” he said. “When we put it together, these are the types of games we’re going to have, where we pass it to each other. Just keep getting yours. Take as much as you can. It’s fun to have these type of games with my guys. It’s nice to get it going. It’s nice.”

–Field Level Media

Archives for June 7, 2024

37-Day Layoff No Issue for Porzingis

Can White Sox Break the Losing Streak