Jaylen Brown starred as the Boston Celtics put on a dominant display to beat the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 in game one of the NBA Finals.
The 27-year-old top scored with 22 points, while five of his team-mates also recorded double figures for the Celtics who are aiming to win a record 18th title.
But the Celtics’ defensive display was just as good, helping them to a 29-point lead in the first half at the TD Garden in Massachusetts.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who scored 30 points and 10 rebounds, helped his side to close the deficit to eight points in the third quarter but the home side pulled away again in the fourth quarter.
“When they cut it to eight, that’s when the game started,” said Brown.
“I liked how our team responded. We stayed composed. Offensively, we got to our spacing and was able to push that lead back out and make some plays.”
Kristaps Porzingis made his return from injury for the Celtics after missing 10 games with a calf injury during the play-offs.
The Latvian, playing against his former side, scored 20 points including 11 from rebounds.
On a disappointing night for the Mavericks, the Texan side will be looking to take hope from their performance in the third quarter.
“I think in those moments we were playing our basketball,” said Doncic.
“We were getting stops. We didn’t allow them to offensive rebound. We were having fun out there in those moments, and that’s what we’ve got to do more.”
Boston host game two of the best-of-seven series on Sunday.
They are aiming to move clear of the Los Angeles Lakers, who also have 17 NBA Championship titles, and will know that 70% of NBA Finals have been won by the team that was victorious in game one.
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