The reward? The Celtics stars are on the brink of joining the litany of big-name predecessors to put a banner above the parquet floor back home.

Tatum scored 31 points, Brown had 30 and the Celtics held off a furious Dallas rally to reach the brink of a record 18th championship with a 106-99 victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday night for a 3-0 lead.

Brown finished with eight rebounds and eight assists as the Celtics extended their franchise record with a 10th consecutive playoff victory and moved to 7-0 on the road this postseason. They can win the series and break a tie with the Lakers for most NBA championships with a victory Friday in Dallas.

And Boston can forget about nearly blowing a 21-point lead with 11 minutes to go.

“Not really trying to look too much into it,” Tatum said. “The game of basketball is about runs. It’s never going to go like you expected. If you want to be a champion, you have to be resilient in those situations, and we did that tonight.”

Boston also improved to 10-1 in these playoffs without Kristaps Porzingis after the 7-foot-2 Latvian was ruled out about two hours before the game because of a rare tendon injury in his lower left leg sustained in Game 2.

The status of Porzingis for the rest of the series appears in doubt, but it might not matter. None of the previous 156 teams to face a 3-0 deficit has rallied to win an NBA playoff series.

The Mavs almost pulled off a crazy comeback to avoid the big hole — 13 years after Dallas had the biggest fourth-quarter rally in the play-by-play era of the NBA Finals (since 1997) when a 15-point comeback in Game 2 started their run to the franchise’s only title against Miami.

Boston led 91-70 at the end of a 20-5 run early in the fourth quarter before Dallas answered with a 22-2 spurt to get within a point with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Problem was, Luka Doncic picked up his sixth foul with 4:12 remaining when a challenge was unsuccessful before Kyrie Irving, who scored 35 points, hit a jumper to get Dallas within one.

Tatum and Brown saved the Celtics from there, with some help from Derrick White, who scored 16. Those three combined for the remaining 13 Boston points to get the Celtics within a victory of their first title since 2008, and just the second since 1986.

The last time the Mavs trailed 3-0 was nine years ago, when they lost to Houston in five games in the first round.

“We just got to make history,” rookie center Dereck Lively II said. “We got to go out there and we just got to play like our lives on the line.”

In a game that seemed over early in the fourth, the score was stuck on 93-90 for more than three minutes. That included when Doncic was called for a blocking foul on a driving Brown.

The Mavs had nothing to lose with the challenge, since it meant trying to save their superstar from disqualification.

Without Doncic, Dallas managed to get within two before Brown hit a pullup jumper with a minute to go. P.J. Washington Jr., Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. each missed a 3-pointer in the final minute as Irving’s personal losing streak against his former team reached 13 games.

“We had a good chance,” Doncic said. “We were close. Just didn’t get it. I wish I was out there.”

An energized Dallas crowd was ready for its first finals game in 13 years, with Super Bowl-winning quarterback and Mavs fan Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs frequently getting out of his seat near midcourt.

The Mavs used the needed boost coming off two losses in Boston, taking their biggest lead of the series while running out to a 22-9 lead. Doncic and Irving drove for buckets while also hitting a 3 apiece.

The Celtics answered with a 21-9 finish to the first quarter. Sam Hauser hit two of his first-half 3s — on three attempts — to help wrap up a run that started with four points from Brown and a 3 from Tatum.

Defense dominated the start of the second quarter, Boston holding a 5-2 edge nearly six minutes in before Irving and Tatum traded 3s to start a scoring burst.

“They came out swinging,” Tatum said. “That was to be expected. They were at home, the crowd was behind them. We expected their first punch.”

Once they withstood it, it appeared the Celtics would coast after outscoring the Mavs 35-19 in the third quarter, before the Mavs’ late rally.

After it was over, pockets of Celtics screamed with delight in a mostly empty arena, seemingly starting the celebration of the inevitable.

To everyone but the Celtics.

“You’ve got to understand we are just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable than they are,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “When you understand that you’re vulnerable and your back’s against the wall, you’ve got to fight. And so that’s the mindset that we have to have.”

He was 86.

West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, was an NBA champion who went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010. He will be enshrined for a third time later this year as a contributor, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called West “one of the greatest executives in sports history.”

“He helped build eight championship teams during his tenure in the NBA — a legacy of achievement that mirrors his on-court excellence,” Silver said. “And he will be enshrined this October into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor, becoming the first person ever inducted as both a player and a contributor. I valued my friendship with Jerry and the knowledge he shared with me over many years about basketball and life.”

West was “the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him,” the Clippers said in announcing his death. West’s wife, Karen, was by his side when he died, the Clippers said. West worked for the Clippers as a consultant for the last seven years.

He was an All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons, a 12-time All-NBA selection, part of the 1972 Lakers team that won a championship, an NBA Finals MVP when the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in 1969 — the first year that award was given out, and still the only time it went to a player on the losing team — and was selected as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

West was general manager of championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping build the “Showtime” dynasty. He also worked in the front offices of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers. Among his many highlights as an executive with the Lakers: he drafted Magic Johnson and James Worthy, then brought in Kobe Bryant and eventually Shaquille O’Neal to play alongside Bryant.

His basketball life bridged generations: West played with Elgin Baylor, whom he called “the most supportive and the greatest player of that era,” and Wilt Chamberlain. As a coach and executive, he worked with a who’s-who of NBA stars from the last 40 years: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Worthy, O’Neal, Bryant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George among them.

“I marvel at them, at the joy they brought basketball fans all over the world,” West said in 2019.

Even in the final years of his life, West was considered basketball royalty. He routinely sat courtside at Summer League games in Las Vegas, often watching many games in a day while greeting long lines of players — LeBron James among them — who would approach to shake his hand.

“The game transcends many things,” West said while attending Summer League last year. “The players change, the style of play may change, but the respect that you learn in this game never changes.”

James, on social media, offered his condolences: “Will truly miss our convos my dear friend! My thoughts and prayers goes out to your wonderful family! Forever love Jerry! Rest in Paradise my guy!” the NBA’s all-time scoring leader wrote Wednesday.

West is 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, and while the league has never confirmed that West was in fact the model for its logo — a player dribbling a ball, set against a red-and-blue background — the league has never said otherwise, either.

“While it’s never been officially declared that the logo is Jerry West,” Silver said in 2021, “it sure looks a lot like him.”

West is still the NBA Finals’ all-time leader in total points, along with field goals made and attempted as well as free throws made and attempted. He played in the title series nine times with the Lakers; his teams went 1-2 against the New York Knicks, and 0-6 against the Celtics.

“Those damn Celtics,” he often said.

West also hit one of the most famed shots in finals history, a 60-footer at the buzzer of Game 3 of the 1970 series between the Knicks and Lakers to force overtime.

Tributes from across the sports world quickly poured in Wednesday morning. The Los Angeles Dodgers released a statement calling West “an indelible figure on the Los Angeles sports landscape for more than 60 years,” and the NBA was planning a pregame tribute to West before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

“Jerry West is one of my favorite people that I had the honor to get to know in the NBA,” Miami Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said Wednesday. “He welcomed me to the league, offered advice from the first day, and asked nothing in return. He will be missed.”

Michael Jordan said he considered West “a friend and mentor — like an older brother to me.”

“I valued his friendship and knowledge,” Jordan said. “I always wished I could have played against him as a competitor, but the more I came to know him, I wish I had been his teammate. I admired his basketball insights and he and I shared many similarities to how we approached the game.”

A native of Chelyan, West Virginia, West was known as a tenacious player who was rarely satisfied with his performance. He grew up shooting at a basket nailed to the side of a shed and often shot until his fingers bled. He became the first high school player in state history to score more than 900 points in a season, averaging 32.2 points in leading East Bank High to a state title.

Basketball, he would later reveal, was his therapy.

In his memoir, “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life,” West chronicled a lifelong battle with depression. He wrote that his childhood was devoid of love and filled with anger as a result of an abusive father. He often felt worthless, and to combat that, he said he put his energy into playing the game.

West led West Virginia University — where he is still the all-time leader in scoring average — to the NCAA final in 1959, when the Mountaineers lost by one point to California.

A year after he won Olympic gold in Rome, West joined the Lakers, where he spent his entire pro playing career. He was honored as one of the league’s 50 greatest players in 1996 and when the league expanded the polling to 75 players to commemorate its 75th anniversary in 2021, West was selected again.

“You know, it never ceases to amaze me the places you can go in this world chasing a bouncing ball,” West said in 2019, when he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — by then-President Donald Trump. “My chase began in Chelyan, West Virginia, where I strung a wire basket with no net to the side of a bridge. If your shot didn’t go in, the ball rolled down a long bank and you would be chasing it forever. So, you better make it.

“I was a dreamer. My family didn’t have much, but we had a clear view of the Appalachian Mountains, and I’d sit alone on our front porch and wonder, ‘If I ever make it to the top of that mountain, what will I see on the other side?’ Well, I did make it to the other side, and my dreams have come true. I’ve been able to see the sides, thanks to that bouncing ball.”

Associated Press Writer John Raby contributed to this report

In 1991, the Chicago Bulls win the first NBA championship in the team’s 25-year history with a 108-101 victory in Game 5 over the Los Angeles Lakers. MVP Michael Jordan scores 30 points, Scottie Pippen has 32 and John Paxson 20.

On this date:

1920 — Man o’ War wins the Belmont Stakes, which was run at 1 3/8-miles, in 2:14 1/5. He shatters the world record by 3 1/5 seconds and sets the American dirt-course record for that distance.

1930 — Max Schmeling beats Jack Sharkey on a fourth-round foul for the vacant heavyweight title in New York. Schmeling becomes the first German — and European — heavyweight world champion.

1939 — Byron Nelson wins the U.S. Open in a three-way playoff with Craig Wood and Denny Shute.

1948 — Citation, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown with an eight-length victory over Better Self. It’s Arcaro’s second Triple Crown. He rode Whirlaway in 1941.

1948 — Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open with a record 276, five fewer than Ralph Guldahl’s 1937 record.

1954 — Milwaukee Braves spot starting pitcher Jim Wilson throws first no-hitter in history of County Stadium when he blanks Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0.

1979 — Bobby Orr becomes the youngest player in NHL history to be selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 31-year-old is inducted months after officially ending his NHL career as the Hall waives its usual three-year waiting period.

1981 — Larry Holmes stops Leon Spinks in the third round for the WBC heavyweight title in Detroit.

1983 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by two strokes over Sandra Haynie.

1984 — 38th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 3, to win the championship title.

1990 — Egypt, a 500-1 shot, stuns the Netherlands when Magdi Abdel-Ghani makes a penalty kick with eight minutes remaining to tie the World Cup favorites 1-1.

2002 — NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers beat New Jersey Nets, 113-107 for a 4-0 sweep and 3rd straight title; MVP: Shaquille O’Neal for 3rd consecutive Finals series.

2005 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 1-over 73 for a three-shot victory over Michelle Wie in the LPGA Championship. The 15-year-old Wie shoots a 69 to finish second. It’s the highest finish by an amateur in a major since 20-year-old Jenny Chuasiriporn lost a playoff to Se Ri Pak in the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open.

2008 — The Boston Celtics overcome a 24-point deficit and beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-91 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA finals. No team has ever overcome more than a 15-point deficit after the first quarter, and the Celtics post the biggest comeback in the finals since 1971.

2009 — Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot scores two second-period goals as the Penguins beat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 and win the Stanley Cup at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.

2011 — The Dallas Mavericks win their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of the finals in Miami, 105-95. Jason Terry scores 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki adds 21 as the Mavericks win four of the series’ last five games.

2013 — Andrew Shaw scores on a deflection in triple overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins in a riveting Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Blackhawks gets third-period goals from Dave Bolland and Oduya to erase a 3-1 deficit.

2016 — Sidney Crosby sets up Kris Letang’s go-ahead goal midway through the second period and the Pittsburgh Penguins win the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history by beating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.

2017 — Kevin Durant caps his spectacular first season with the Warriors by bringing home an NBA championship. Durant, who joined Golden State last July, scores 39 points in a finals-clinching 129-120 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

2019 — Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden, Boston, MA: St. Louis Blues beat Boston Bruins, 4-1 for a 4-3 series victory; first title in franchise history.

2021 — Danish soccer midfielder Christian Eriksen suffers an on-field cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match with Finland in Copenhagen. Eriksen is revived with a defibrillator and the game controversially continues with a 1-0 Finland win.

2023 — NBA Finals: Denver Nuggets beat Miami Heat 94-89 to win the franchise’s first Championship; clinch series 4-1; MVP: Denver C Nikola Jokić.

Luka Doncic, who was listed as questionable to play less than two hours before the opening tipoff, scored 32 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists — the first NBA Finals triple-double in Mavericks franchise history. But he missed a one-footed, running floater from 3-point range with 28 seconds left, ending Dallas’ last chance at a comeback.

Game 3 is Wednesday night in Dallas. The Mavericks need a win then or in Game 4 on Friday to avoid a sweep and earn a trip back to the Boston Garden, where the local fans are already making space in the rafters for what would be an unprecedented 18th NBA championship banner.

The Celtics won the opening pair in the NBA Finals for the ninth time. They have won the previous eight, and have never been forced to a Game 7 in any of them.

Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Tatum had 18 and Derrick White also scored 18 points for top-seeded Boston. Kristaps Porzingis limped his way to 12 points. Tatum was 6 for 22 shooting and 1 of 7 from 3-point range; the Celtics were 10 for 39 from long distance overall.

Kyrie Irving, who’s drawn the animosity of the local fans ever since cutting short his stay in Boston in 2019, scored 16 points; he has lost 12 games in a row against the Celtics.

Unlike their 107-89 victory in Game 1, when a fast start from 3-point range staked them to a 29-point, first-half lead, the Celtics missed their first eight attempts from long distance and were around 20% for most of the game.

Tatum scored zero points in the first quarter and had only five at halftime, when he was still 0 for 3 from 3-point range. Boston was still just 5 for 30 from long distance when Peyton Pritchard banked in a half-courter at the third-quarter buzzer to give Boston an 83-74 lead.

Yet his durability and scoring dependability over those six seasons during one of the franchise’s most memorable eras cemented his status as one of the Bulls’ all-time greats.

Walker, who averaged 20.6 points while missing just 18 games and making four All-Star teams in Chicago, has died, the Bulls confirmed to the Tribune on Saturday evening. He was 84.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Chet Walker, a legendary figure in our team’s history,” the Bulls said in a statement. “Chet left an indelible mark on the court and in the hearts of fans. His skill, dedication and contributions to the game made a lasting impact on the sport of basketball and the city of Chicago. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all who were touched by his legacy.”

Walker died Saturday in Long Beach, Calif., after a long illness, according to an article on the Bulls website.

Nicknamed “Chet the Jet” for his agility, Walker teamed with fellow forward Bob Love to form a potent scoring pair. Along with the fiery backcourt of Norm Van Lier and Jerry Sloan and anchored in the middle by Tom Boerwinkle, the Bulls posted four straight 50-win seasons and advanced to two straight Western Conference finals under coach Dick Motta at a time the fledgling franchise became more identifiable with the blue-collar, hardworking city.

“That basically laid the foundation for basketball in Chicago,” Walker said during his 2012 Hall of Fame acceptance speech in Springfield, Mass.

The Bulls acquired Walker in a September 1969 trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, for whom he had started on what some consider one of the best teams of all time. Led by Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham, the 1966-67 76ers went 68-13 and defeated the San Francisco Warriors in the NBA Finals, only to be broken up two years later.

With his strong face-up game, devastating pump fake and knack for clutch scoring, Walker quickly put to rest any whispers that the 76ers traded him because his game was in decline. He averaged 21.5 points his first season in Chicago, helping the Bulls make the playoffs.

All 13 of Walker’s teams advanced to the postseason.

“He was as clutch a player as you could have,” Boerwinkle once told the Tribune.

Walker was inducted into the inaugural class of the Bulls Ring of Honor in January.

Photos: Meet the 13 Chicago Bulls’ inaugural Ring of Honor class

Born Feb. 22, 1940, as the youngest of 10 children in rural Mississippi, Chester “Chet” Walker was raised by a strong, single mother who moved the family to Benton Harbor, Mich. Walker overcame poverty to earn a scholarship to Bradley University in Peoria, where he earned two All-America nods and won NIT titles in 1957 and 1960.

The Syracuse Nationals, who moved to Philadelphia to become the 76ers, drafted him in the second round. Walker made the All-Rookie team and played in seven All-Star games.

He averaged 19.2 points in 1974-75, his final season, and didn’t enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until 2012 via the veterans committee. In several interviews, Walker attributed the wait to his leadership role with the players union, which included a lawsuit against the Bulls and NBA.

“I think I was blacklisted,” Walker matter-of-factly told the Tribune in 2007, alluding to both the end of his career and the wait for the Hall of Fame.

Motta, with whom the soft-spoken Walker never got along, rejected his star forward’s contract demands before that season. Motta and Bulls ownership also refused Walker’s demand that he be traded or released.

So Walker sued the Bulls and the NBA for violation of federal antitrust laws. He reached a settlement but never played again.

Along with union President Larry Fleischer and prominent player representatives Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy, Walker also played a leading role in trying to block NBA owners who wanted to limit bidding wars for players by merging with the upstart American Basketball Association.

Though the merger ultimately happened in 1976, provisions were allowed for free agency that began an economic renaissance for players — but not for Walker. Meanwhile, the Bulls’ golden era ended. They plummeted from 47 victories to 24 without Walker.

After his playing career, Walker moved to Hollywood and began a career as a movie producer. He won an Emmy award for his made-for-TV movie, “A Mother’s Courage: The Mary Thomas Story.” The film focused on the strength of Isiah Thomas’ mother in raising nine children as a single parent on Chicago’s West Side.

Walker has said in many interviews that Mary Thomas reminded him of his own mother’s sacrifices. Isiah Thomas stood on stage as one of Walker’s presenters during his Hall of Fame speech.

“People would come into the old Chicago Stadium, and it was so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think,” Walker said during the induction. “I love Chicago — great city, great town, great people.”

K.C. Johnson is a former Chicago Tribune sports reporter.

Silver, speaking in his annual pre-NBA Finals news conference, did not offer any hints on when the next series of deals will be completed, other than saying “in the relative near term.” The current deals with ABC-ESPN and Turner Sports expire after next season and the NBA has been talking with NBC, ESPN and Amazon, among other networks and platforms, about what comes next.

“It’s complicated for several reasons,” Silver said. “One is the advent of new platforms, particularly streaming and the interest of streaming companies and in the traditional media companies also carrying our games on streaming platforms. It’s complicated because with multiple partners, all seeking similar assets in many cases, you’re just figuring out the right way to balance those games as they go to different partners.”

The expectations, from networks and others involved in the process, is that the new agreements will be for 11 years and could exceed $70 billion in total value. Those would smash the existing norms for both value and deal length; the current one is nine years, $24 billion.

“We tend to do long-term deals,” Silver said. “We think that’s good for the stability of the league. But it means to a certain extent you’re trying to predict the future, which is of course impossible. Part of it is a bet on the partners that we’ll ultimately align with and their ability also to adjust the times and their willingness to continue to invest in media and to become global, which is very important to the league as well.”

What remains most unclear is how, or if, Turner will remain involved with the NBA when the new deals get struck.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav sounded an ominous note in late 2022, saying that Turner and WBD “don’t have to have the NBA” once their current deal expires. If WBD is not part of the next deals, one of the most recognizable changes for fans could be the demise of the highly popular “Inside the NBA” program featuring former NBA stars Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.

“That show, in particular, is special.” Silver said.

When the deals get done — whether it’s in the coming days, weeks or even months — it would clear the way for the next major item on the NBA’s to-do list, that being expansion.

Silver has been very clear on the order of his top agenda items in recent seasons, those being preserving labor peace (which was achieved with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement) and getting a new media deal (talks ongoing). Then the league, at some point, will turn its attention toward adding new franchises.

“By turning to expansion, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to announce that now we’re ready to add teams,” Silver said. “It means that there will be a committee of NBA governors that will focus on it. … I actually am looking forward to that. I think the league, it’s not preordained that we will expand this time, but I know there’s an enormous amount of interest out there”

In other topics covered by Silver:

Caitlin Clark

Silver didn’t opine on the hard foul that Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark took from Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter last weekend, a play that has been scrutinized in countless ways from countless parties.

“As a fan, obviously, it’s nothing new in basketball that there’s sort of welcome-to-the-league moments, especially for heralded rookies,” Silver said. “But of course, I want to see Caitlin treated fairly and appropriately in the league. I would say, seems like she can take care of herself. She’s a tough player.”

Silver calls Clark “an incredible talent” and says all the attention she helps brings is good for the game — while noting that the growth of the fan base for the women’s game didn’t start just now, either. He also said it can’t be ignored that there are “larger societal issues at work … some having to do with race” when discussing the attention Clark generates and how that is received.

“Sports, historically, has been a platform for people to talk directly about these issues,” Silver said. “I don’t think we should hide from them, and I think the players are happy to engage about these issues.”

Tanking

Silver said he believed the $750,000 fine the NBA issued to the Dallas Mavericks was appropriate last season, after a brief investigation showed the team engaged in “conduct detrimental to the league” by sitting out most of its key players against the Chicago Bulls on April 7, 2023.

The Mavs still had a chance to reach the playoffs, but the NBA said the it believed the team made its roster decisions that night “in order to improve the chances of keeping its first-round pick in the 2023 NBA draft.” That pick became Dereck Lively II, who has played a significant role for the Mavericks in their run to the NBA Finals.

“In terms of what Dallas did last year, we sanctioned them. We did what we thought was appropriate at the time,” Silver said. “I would only say that the success they saw this season, that they’re now seeing in the playoffs and here they are at the finals, I don’t attribute it to one draft pick — as important as that draft pick has been to their team.”

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, which led by 29 points in the first half and connected on 16 3-pointers in a powerful start to its 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.

“That’s the KP that helped us get to where we are today,” Mazzulla said. “It doesn’t matter how long the guy is off, he’s going to make plays.”

All-Star Jayson Tatum finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Six players scored in double figures for the Celtics, who host Game 2 on Sunday.

“Getting back to this point and being here is really a big deal,” Tatum said. “But two years ago we won the first game and we know the outcome of that series. We still have a lot of work to do.”

Dallas cut the deficit to eight points in the third quarter, but Boston answered with a 14-0 run to quickly pull away again.

“That’s when the game started,” Brown said.

Luka Doncic led Dallas with 30 points. P.J. Washington added 14 points and eight rebounds. But Dallas couldn’t find offensive consistency beyond that, totaling just nine assists on its 35 field goals for the game. The Mavericks didn’t score 25 points in any quarter.

Doncic said the lopsided loss wouldn’t diminish the spirit of a team that lost the opening game in three of four series this postseason.

“Either you lose or you win,” Doncic said. “First to four, we’ve got to focus on the next game.”

Former Celtic Kyrie Irving struggled throughout, finishing with 12 points. He received a loud and extended chorus of boos Thursday when he was introduced before the game. It continued throughout the game whenever he touched the ball.

The treatment came after Irving sparred with Boston fans and was fined for using an obscene gesture during a 2022 playoff visit to TD Garden.

“I thought it was going to be a little louder in here. I’m expecting the same thing (in Game 2). The crowd’s trying to get me out of my element,” Irving said. “It’s not the first time I’ve lost in Boston. I don’t want to make it a habit.”

The Celtics, seeking their first championship since 2008, showed little rust from their 10-day layoff after sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals.

They flowed with energy throughout, sharing the ball in the halfcourt and getting the ball to shooters for open 3s. They also attacked the interior of the Dallas defense and got to the rim for several dunks.

Meanwhile, apart from Doncic, who shot 12 of 26 from the field, Dallas struggled early to get into its sets and couldn’t find a consistent groove offensively.

The Mavericks led by one midway through the first quarter. The Celtics responded by outscoring them 44-16 to make it 58-29 in the second.

Things changed over the next 12 minutes of game action when Dallas used a 35-14 run, including 15 points by Doncic, to cut Boston’s lead to 72-64. But the Celtics were back up 86-66 entering the fourth.

Dallas had just five assists through the first three quarters, the fewest any NBA team has had through 36 minutes in any game in the last three seasons.

“We’ve got to move the ball,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “The ball got stuck too much.”

Porzingis ended his 10-game hiatus when he came off the bench with 7:17 left in the first quarter in place of starter Al Horford. With the exception of a white compression sleeve on his right leg, it was hard to tell Porzingis was coming off an injury.

He got into the mix quickly, knocking down a pair of free throws after being fouled by Doncic. A possession later, the Latvian connected in his first field goal when he dropped on a short jumper over Doncic.

He wasn’t done.

Minutes later he got loose in the paint for a two-handed dunk over Derrick Lively. On Dallas’ next possession, Porzingis was there to swat away Jaden Hardy’s layup attempt. The Celtics pushed the ball up the court and got the ball back to their big man, who calmly buried a 16-footer.

It was part of a 17-5 surge by Boston over the final 5:24 of the quarter that saw Porzingis go 4 for 5 from the field, score 11 points, block two shots and grab three rebounds. Boston carried a 37-20 lead into the second quarter.

Porzingis finished the half with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

However, it will be one of the announcers who helped pave the way for Burke to eventually become the first woman to serve as a game analyst on TV for a championship final in one of the four major professional U.S. sports leagues who will be watching with pride Thursday night.

Before calling Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics, Burke said Robin Roberts was one of her biggest influences when she was starting out as an analyst calling women’s college basketball games.

Roberts, the co-host of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said Burke’s acknowledgement of those who came before her has been among her best qualities.

“What I really appreciate about Doris is that she is respectful and acknowledging those who came before her and who helped pave the way. She knows how her being there is going to make a difference, as I and others have made a difference, for her to be where she is,” Roberts said.

Burke, who joined ESPN in 1990, has covered the finals since 2009. She was a sideline reporter for ABC’s coverage from 2009-19 before serving as an analyst on ESPN Radio for the past four finals.

Burke knows this year’s assignment is different.

“My focus is in preparing for the games in front of me. … But I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I am sort of mindful that there is something meaningful here, right,” she said. “And the meaning for me would be if, in some way, this assignment makes life for women in sports easier or somehow aids in their process, then nothing could be more meaningful.

“Anybody calling their first NBA Finals game would probably be nervous, and I think if I allow my mind to drift too much into that space, it will make that nervousness a little bit worse.”

Ann Meyers Drysdale, the first woman to work an NBA game for one of the broadcast networks in 1997 for NBC, said Burke has deserved this opportunity.

“She’s worked hard. Somebody has given her an opportunity, she’s taken it and been productive,” Meyers said.

Burke has also acknowledged she feels “fortunate to be operating at the point in history within which I’m operating.” Quite simply, she saw the experiences Roberts and Meyers went through breaking barriers while also forging their own path. But Burke is also in a position to mentor analysts and announcers who are coming up.

“I say it every time I see her and Ann Meyers Drysdale. I wouldn’t have the role and the position that I have without them not only having done the job, but doing it with so much competence and diligence,” said Sarah Kustok, an analyst for Brooklyn Nets games on YES Network. “How she has thrived in that role has set the table for so many of us.”

Burke’s influence goes beyond basketball. Jessica Mendoza said she pushed management at ESPN to start doing baseball after seeing Burke call a game. Mendoza started doing MLB games in 2015, was part of “Sunday Night Baseball” from 2016 to ’19, and has done the World Series on ESPN Radio since 2020.

“When I heard Doris on an NBA game as an analyst, not a reporter, it just completely changed my thoughts about my own position but also women in general that have played the sport,” Mendoza said. “She has helped me out with advice and how to approach things like she experienced her first few years. You know, all the questions that I can only ask a handful of women in the world.”

During a conference call this week, Burke did not get emotional discussing her milestone, but in praising her teammates — announcer Mike Breen and analyst JJ Reddick.

Breen will be calling his 19th finals, but his first since 2006 where Jeff Van Gundy hasn’t been an analyst. Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were laid off last July as part of job cuts by the network. Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson called 15 finals together.

Last August, Breen, Burke and Doc Rivers were announced as ESPN’s main NBA team. Those plans changed in late January when Rivers left to coach the Milwaukee Bucks.

“He’s never said it’s been difficult, but knowing Mike and the position he’s been put in, you know, this probably has not been easy, necessarily, throughout the course of the year,” Burke said. “There’s points at which Mike has navigated us through spaces, and I am incredibly appreciative. JJ has been as good a teammate on the air and off as I could possibly hope for.”

Sterling never had much of a national profile in pop culture but his downfall changed all that. His assistant and maybe-mistress V. Stiviano was in the habit of recording their conversations — with his knowledge — which included a rant berating her for being photographed with Black people. That snippet would ultimately find its way to TMZ, which resulted in Sterling being banned from the NBA and forced to sell his stake in the team. Throughout it all, Stiviano had a strange push-pull response to the ensuing media interest.

That’s the recap, which suggests the story doesn’t warrant more than a movie-length treatment. But FX is in the TV business and the six-episode series (streaming on Hulu) does some things I found intriguing.

Ed O’Neill has said he wasn’t interested in playing Sterling at first and I get the reluctance; he’s not only repellent, he’s boring. As a real estate mogul, Sterling was previously the subject of housing discrimination lawsuits as well as sexual harassment lawsuits. Those in business with him overlooked this history and that kind of choice is neither new nor shocking, but it does put everyone in his orbit on a morally compromised path.

Adapted from a “30 for 30” podcast, the series is from creator Gina Welch (whose credits include the thematically adjacent “Feud” and “Ray Donovan”) and it’s a study in that old axiom: When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. That’s true of everyone who had personal or professional dealings with Sterling, including Stiviano (Cleopatra Coleman), his longtime wife Shelly (Jacki Weaver), coach Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne), as well as the players and front office personnel.

At one point, Sterling loses his temper with Rivers and barks: “I’m your owner.” It’s all so loaded. He’s portrayed as breezily untouchable, which is illustrated in flashbacks. He’s sitting for a deposition and describing in some detail a limo encounter with a prostitute. The anecdote is presented without context, because there’s a punchline coming. When he’s finished, the attorney across the table dryly responds: “Mr. Sterling, the question was, is this your handwriting?” That exchange isn’t an invention by Welch. Just truth being stranger than fiction.

Welch has a lot on her mind but not all of it coheres. The show is strongest when it’s less focused on Stiviano’s grasping desire for fame or recreating her awkward interview with Barbara Walters (in which she clunkily described herself as Sterling’s “right hand arm man”) and more interested in longstanding issues of racism in the NBA and the tense debates Sterling’s bigotry provoked for Rivers and the players.

“The whole season you’re talking about tuning out distractions,” a player tells the coach. “But this tape is everything. Dude is literally saying that I’m a piece of property.” This sparks some meaty and nuanced arguments about whether to boycott or play. Ultimately, they play. But “Clipped” does a decent enough job suggesting all kinds of “and what if they hadn’t?” questions that aren’t addressed on screen.

O’Neill goes all in. It’s the flashier, in-your-face role. But it’s Weaver and Fishburne who stand out. Weaver’s version of Shelly Sterling is a fascinating enigma and portrait of an enabler. Privately she’s exasperated by the trouble her husband is causing them both, but publicly she insists he was tricked into saying racist things. Whether she believes it or not is irrelevant, because (as portrayed here) she’s not horrified by any of it. Her focus is on maintaining as much of their lifestyle and wealth as possible. And she does it with a sugary disposition, calling Rivers and the players “honey” as they silently and stonily tolerate her presence.

Fishburne is the soiled, hangdog conscience of the series. He’s a class act who is disgusted by Sterling and just wants to do his job — but he also knows that’s a losing bet he made the moment he accepted a position with the team. Even so, the way he giddily bounces in his seat when NBA commissioner Adam Silver announces that Sterling is out is a terrific moment of satisfaction. (Darin Cooper’s Silver is unyielding and unemotional; he’s all business.)

The series also pauses to let one-time general manager Elgin Baylor (Clifton Davis) hold his head high and say his piece about his own deal with the devil. Sterling wasn’t interested in spending for players, which rendered Baylor largely ineffectual. But he was also given extraordinary job security despite the team’s horrendous record. The scene arrives out of nowhere, but the undercurrent of racism once again comes to the fore and that righteous tension is far more intriguing than anything happening in Sterling’s private life.

At one point early in the series, Stiviano spots a celebrity and sighs. “How come famous people glow like that?” A friend splashes cold water on the fantasy: “Usually it’s not happiness.” It might be the show’s most salient point.

“Clipped” — 2 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: Hulu

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic

Porter isn’t named in the court complaint, but its specifics about “Player 1” match the details of the former Toronto Raptors player’s downfall this spring. It’s unclear whether Porter himself is under investigation in the criminal case, and Brooklyn federal prosecutors declined to comment on whether he is.

The court complaint against Long Phi Pham says the player communicated directly with defendant Pham and other conspirators.

Current contact information for Porter couldn’t immediately be found.

According to the complaint, the player told Pham and others, via encrypted messages, that he planned to take himself out of Jan. 26 and March 20 games early, claiming injury or illness. Porter played 4 minutes, 24 seconds against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first of those games, then 2 minutes, 43 seconds against the Sacramento Kings in the second game, both times falling short of wagering lines based on his expected performance.

Pham and other conspirators — whose names are redacted in the court complaint — used that advance knowledge to place bets on Porter underperforming, prosecutors allege. The bets paid off to the tune of more than $1 million for the group, according to prosecutors.

A message seeking comment was left for Pham’s lawyer. Pham, 38, of Brooklyn, was being detained after an initial court appearance Tuesday. Accused of conspiring to defraud a sports betting company, he’s due back in court Wednesday for a bail hearing.

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said the alleged conspirators “participated in a brazen, illegal betting scheme that had a corrupting influence on two games and numerous bets.”

“Whether on the court or in the casino, every point matters,” Peace said in a statement.

The NBA banned Porter in April after a league probe found that he disclosed confidential information about his health to a sports bettor and that Porter himself wagered on games using someone else’s account — even betting on the Raptors to lose.

“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” Commissioner Adam Silver said at the time in a press release. Portions of that release are quoted in the court complaint against Pham.

Messages seeking comment were left for the NBA and the Raptors.

Porter was on a two-way contract, meaning he could play for both the Raptors and their affiliate in the G League. His salary for this year was around $410,000; had the Raptors signed him to a standard NBA contract next season, as seemed possible, his salary would have exceeded $2 million.

The 24-year-old Porter averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 games, including five starts. He also played in 11 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2020-21 season.

AP’s Brian Mahoney contributed.