Their Time Is Now: Boston Celtics Play For Banner 18 In NBA Finals

BOSTON — Sixteen years after the Boston Celtics last won a championship, two years after the Celtics last played in the NBA Finals, and 10 days after the Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers out of the Eastern Conference finals for a chance to play for a title, what Boston fans hope will be the final countdown to Banner 18 begins Thursday night at TD Garden.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals will pit the best team in the league all season — with a 64-18 record in the regular season and 12-2 mark through three playoff rounds — against the No. 5 seed Dallas Mavericks. As if the world championship hanging in the balance was not dramatic enough, there will be no shortage of juicy storylines entering Thursday night — including the return of former Celtic-turned-Boston Sports Public Enemy No. 1 Kyrie Irving, the hopeful return to form of starting center Kristaps Porzingis 37 days after he exited a first-round playoff game with a calf strain, and the validation of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as not only perennial All-Stars but as the two superstars who join the pantheon of crowned Celtic legends.

"The team that plays the hardest, the team that's the toughest, the team that makes the most plays is the team that wins," Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said Wednesday morning in his weekly interview with 98.5-FM The Sports Hub. "We just have to be in that mind frame to do that for however long that takes."

Those looking to attend Games 1 and 2 in Boston will pay a price with the "get-in" cost for balcony tickets ranging from $585 for Game 1 Thursday night to $675 for Game 2 on Sunday, according to StubHub on Wednesday morning. For the first time, when the series shifts to Dallas for Games 3 and 4 next Wednesday and Friday, the city of Boston and the Celtics will also host a "Watch Party" at TD Garden where those willing to pay $18 for entrance (as well as $18 for parking in the TD Garden garage) will be able to watch the games together on the Jumbotron.

New England fans might also want to consider a nap on the days of games with an 8:30 p.m. start — which will be closer to 8:50 — on Thursday and 8 p.m. start (8:20-ish) on Sunday night.

The Celtics are planning to have Porzingis — one of two major offseason acquisitions along with former All-Star and NBA champion Jrue Holiday — back for Game 1 more than a month after he sustained the calf injury in the first round against the Miami Heat. While Porzingis struck a cautious tone about his readiness to hit the court running during Tuesday's media availability, Mazzulla was emphatic about his importance on Wednesday after Porzingis averaged 20 points and 7 rebounds per game during the regular season.

"Every day he comes in and he just works to get back," Mazzulla said of Porzingis during the injury rehab. "Works his ass off to be in the best position he can be. At this point, he knows we need him. For us to have a great chance, we need him at his best, and he's doing everything he can to put himself in that situation."

While Porzingis will be playing against his former team in the Mavericks, the reunion most will fixate on will be the return of Irving to Boston after a rocky two-year stint in the city where he once claimed a desire to have his No. 11 raised to the rafters, then fled in free agency months after saying he intended to sign a long-term contract.

His previous trips back to the parquet have included him stomping on the Celtics midcourt logo, dousing the court with sage, having a water bottle tossed at him as he was leaving the court and engaging in an intense back and forth with fans who shouted profanity at him as he retorted with obscene gestures and mocked the fans as crybabies.

Irving expressed regret for some of his past actions as a visiting player earlier this week — expressing a desire to be like the Maximus character in Gladiator who came into the arena as a villain and eventually won the crowd over to his side.

While that scenario unfolding seems highly implausible, Irving is playing some of the best basketball of his career during the playoffs as he teams with perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic to form what many believe to be the best two-player combination in the NBA.

Challenging that hierarchy, of course, is Brown and Tatum, who have knocked on the door of history ever since they came into the league and now appear to have their best chance as a duo to finally crash on through it amid some questions about whether they will ever be able to do so together.

"Those two deserve better," Mazzulla said in response to any criticism. "They are two great people and they are two great players. They have done a lot of great things for this city and this organization. They both deserve better than how people have been speculating.

"I think you have to fight for the truth. That's the most important thing."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)