Shaquille O'Neal rebuffs Kenny Smith's claim of Celtics' outmatching Mavericks: "Porzingis has been out for 2 months"

Shaquille O'Neal disagreed with fellow NBA TV panelist Kenny Smith's take that the availability of Kristaps Porzingis for the Boston Celtics gives them an advantage over the Dallas Mavericks in their best-of-seven NBA Finals series. Game 1 between the Mavs and C's got underway at TD Garden on Thursday.

Smith said Porzingis playing in the Finals after missing a large chunk of the playoffs because of a calf injury would make the Celtics even tougher to handle than they already are. However, Shaq disagreed since the towering Latvian had been away for a considerable time.

In making his case, Smith, a two-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets in the 1990s, shared in the pregame analysis of the series on NBA TV:

"Whose the better team [in this series]? You could say it is the team here in Boston because if you match up [Derrick] White, [Jrue] Holiday and [Kristaps] Porzingis, those are three on the cusp All-Stars or have been All-Stars.... How many teams can say that their fifth-best player at times could be Porzingis?"

Smith went on to say:

"How can you lose if your fifth-best player could be the first best-player on most bad teams in the NBA?"

O'Neal, however, was left unconvinced, interjecting while Smith was talking:

"Porzingis has been out for 2 months."

Check out what they had to say below:

Game 1 of the NBA Finals was the first game back for Porzingis since his 14-minute outing in Game 4 of their opening-round series against the Miami Heat on April 30.

In the four playoff games he played previously before his return, Porzingis averaged 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 blocks in 27 minutes.

Boston, however, has been able to hold the fort in his absence, finishing Miami in five games before eliminating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five in the conference semifinals. They swept the Indiana Pacers next in the Eastern Conference finals to return to the NBA's 'Big Dance' for the second time in three years.

Kristaps Porzingis comes out swinging in Game 1 of NBA Finals

Kristaps Porzingis immediately put to rest any concerns of rust after missing considerable time because of a calf injury in this year's playoffs after coming out swinging in Game 1 of the finals.

The one-time NBA All-Star led the Celtics' torrid charge in the opening half, where they ran away with a 63-42 lead at the break.

Porzingis played 13 minutes and tallied a team-high 18 points on solid 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from deep. He also had three rebounds and two blocks.

Backstopping him was Jaylen Brown with 13 points, while Jayson Tatum added all-around numbers of eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

For Dallas, it was Luka Doncic who led the way with 17 points, with Kyrie Irving and P.J. Washington adding six points each.