Al Horford had played 141 playoff games before reaching his first career NBA Finals game on Thursday night. His hot shooting helped the Boston Celtics outscore the Golden State Warriors 40-16 in the fourth quarter by using a barrage of three-pointers for a 120-108 win in Game 1 at the Chase Center in San Francisco. It was the first NBA Finals win for Boston since a Game 5 victory on June 12, 2010 over the Los Angeles Lakers, in a series LA eventually won in seven games.
Stephen Curry and Golden State had the lead for a good portion of the first half. Curry pumped in 21 points in the opening quarter, including 6 three-pointers (an NBA Finals record for one quarter) as the hosts didn’t trail in the period leading by as many as seven and 32-28 after 12 minutes. A three-pointer by Klay Thompson extended it to 47-37 with 7:36 left in the second. Boston ran off 10 straight points to tie it, with six of those coming from Jaylen Brown. Brown hit two from the foul line for the first lead of the night for the Celtics 51-49 with 2:32 left, and the guests would hold that slim two point advantage at the half 56-54.
The Western Conference Champion Warriors caught fire again in the third quarter and looked as though they had taken control of the game. Golden State hit six more from downtown taking over the lead and stretching it out to a 15 point margin with just over two minutes left, and held a comfortable 92-80 lead headed to the fourth. Boston though wasn’t having any of it, scoring the first nine points of the final 12 minutes to slice it to a three point deficit. They would take over the lead for good on a Horford three-pointer 106-103 with 5:10 left to play. Horford ended up with 11 points and Brown 10 in the fourth, as their team went on a 17-0 run to stun the sellout crowd and put the game away sending Golden State to their first home loss of the playoffs (9-1). The Celtics hit 9-12 from three-point range in the fourth quarter.
Horford, the 15 year veteran in his first ever Finals game, had a great night with a team high 26 points in the win also adding six rebounds and three assists. He hit 6 three-pointers (6-8), which is a career-high. Brown finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Derrick White also hit some big shots in the fourth quarter run, adding to his solid postseason with 21 points off the bench (5-8 three-pointers). Marcus Smart chipped in 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals while Jayson Tatum despite an off night shooting (3-17) got into double figures with 12 points, five rebounds, and a career-high 13 assists. Center Robert Williams III, still dealing with soreness in his knee, played his fifth straight game and registered 24 minutes providing eight points, six rebounds, and four blocked shots. Boston hit 21-41 from behind the arc (51.2%), and shot 50.6% from the floor overall. Curry was the standout for Golden State in the loss with a game high 34 points, 7-14 from three-point range (only one make after the first quarter). He also contributed five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Andrew Wiggins also scored 20 points in the defeat. Game 2 is set for Sunday night with tipoff shortly after 8 p.m.
