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- Porzingis: Tonight was affirmation to myself that I’m pretty good
BOSTON: Kristaps Porzingis didn’t want to make predictions about how his body would respond heading into the NBA Finals after he spent more than a month on the sideline with a calf injury.
Just fine, it turned out.
Jaylen Brown scored 22 points, Porzingis made an immediate impact off the bench and added 20 and the Boston Celtics powered past the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 on Thursday night in Game 1.
Derrick White finished with 15 points for Boston, who led by 29 points in the first half and connected on 16 3-pointers in a powerful start to their quest for an 18th NBA title.
Porzingis, a 7-footer who had been sidelined since April 29, added six rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes.
“Tonight was affirmation to myself that I’m pretty good,” Porzingis said. “I’m not perfect but I can play like this and I can add to this team.”
The last Celtics player to enter the court for pregame warmups, he said he received a jolt of energy from a home crowd, which erupted when he emerged from the tunnel.
“The adrenaline was pumping through my veins,” Porzingis said.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wasn’t concerned about the layoff affecting Porzingis’ aggressiveness.