Kristaps Porzingis spent most of the Dallas Mavericks versus Minnesota Timberwolves series either at home or during training.
He probably had a night out here and there, but still, with the Indiana series sabbatical, as well as the lull period in between series.
And also the fact that Kristaps is facing his former team, Porzingis became Porzin-GOAT.
The Boston Celtics caught fire in the first half to score an emphatic win, 107 to 89.
Now, I don't really want to mess with Kyrie Irving's awesomeness because it might eventually haunt my Cs but...
Dallas gave the Celtics a scare in the third quarter. Luka Doncic was terrific for most of the game but when Kyrie came alive in the third quarter, they managed to turn a 29-point lead into an "acceptable" 8-point deficit until Boston regained their composure.
And while each Celtic had their moment, Jaylen Brown unleashed most of the damage. Brown had 22 points with 7-of-12 shooting, six boards, two assists, and most importantly, three steals and three blocks. Jayson Tatum had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists but he needs to improve his 6-of-16 shooting. Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford combined with 37 points, 17 rebounds, and 13 assists while Sam Hauser had a respectable 8 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes.
Off the bench, Porzingis raised hell with 20 points of 8-of-13 shooting, six rebounds, and three blocks in 21 minutes of action. Jaylen Brown was doing his thing but Porzingis gave the Celtics the much-needed oomph.
Dallas got 30 points from Luka but got 12 points from Kyrie Irving. PJ Washington had 14 while Jaden Hardy had 13. Dallas has always been the Luka and Kyrie Show, but it's insane that the other shots are hard to come from their support. Derrick Jones had 29 minutes and just nine attempts, and it gets worse with their other guys as Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, and Dereck Lively II all played for 18 minutes and above but could just cough up a combined six attempts. Along with Daniel Gafford, their big men crew were instrumental in toppling the Timberwolves.
With that said, I guess Boston is a different kind of animal and hopefully, they get a chance to repeat the win in Game 2.