NBA Finals

Down by 12 entering the fourth quarter, Boston outscored Golden State 40-16 in the final period — the most lopsided fourth quarter in NBA Finals history.

Derrick White finished with 21 points in his 32 minutes in the Game 1 win over the Warriors.

He shot just 1-for-11 on 3s against the Nets in the first round as the frustration grew. Those makes add a different element to the Celtics’ offense, where either White knocks down the shots or he adds spacing for his teammates to operate. He added another three assists and was a team-high plus-25 in his 32 minutes. But White has transformed into a crucial piece for the Celtics in the past three games. The Celtics needed all of those 3-pointers Thursday in their 120-108 win over the Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Even in the early parts of the playoffs, the 3-point misses mounted, though White continued to do all the little things to affect the game.

"High level of basketball being displayed gentlemen." Even Kevin Durant couldn't take his eyes off of Thursday's night of basketball.

"You get a chance to do something else, do it in a different way, embrace the challenge. So no, it's not a hit to the confidence at all, not one bit. It's just nothing to panic about." We'll come in, watch the film and see where we can get better, and you know, it's one game." Derrick White added 21 points off the bench. "We had every opportunity, 12-point lead going into the fourth.

“That's kind of who we've been all year,” said Celtics Head Coach Ime Udoka. “Tough grinders, resilient group that we can always know we can rely on our defense ...

“If you were to tell me this team isn’t winning the finals, you’re absolutely crazy.” The Celtics stole home court advantage and got a win on the road — which isn’t out of the ordinary. The Warriors had plenty of rest, have been to the Finals many times before, and Steph Curry started the game by draining threes.

Golden State's aberrant and confounding fourth-quarter meltdown in Game 1 of the NBA finals was more like business as usual for Boston.

Curry had a strong evening and the Warriors put themselves in a winning position with relative ease – yet ended up losing heavily at home. They made a good push to start the fourth and they kept that momentum going. Curry was so good so early in this game that it did not feel indulgent to rush ahead and imagine what he might accomplish over the remainder of a series that plenty of pundits have tipped to last the full seven-game distance. He didn’t score any points in the second quarter and only added one more three-pointer, ending up with a game-high 34. A 15-year NBA veteran making his first finals appearance a day before his 36th birthday, Horford top-scored for the Celtics with 26 points, including a career-high six three-pointers. “My guys found me tonight and I knocked ‘em down,” Horford said on ABC after his central role in the Boston Celtics’ stunning and strange 120-108 victory over the Golden State Warriors. “A lot of fun.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Jaylen Brown made a 3-pointer and then another. Payton Pritchard made one, then Derrick White made two 3s in a row, followed by two Al ...

The things we did to be successful coming here, we'll try to do more of the same." Though Steph Curry had 34 points, he had just four in the fourth. It was time to figure it out." "Our young guys have had a lot of success so far getting to the Eastern Conference finals multiple times," Udoka said. The Celtics made 21 3s, the second-most in Finals history. The tenor of this series changed with Boston’s victory, their eighth road win of the playoffs.

Just a couple of offseasons ago, the Philadelphia 76ers made several critical personnel moves, which caused quite a stir in the city of Brotherly Love.

In his first nine minutes on the floor coming out of the half, Horford dropped seven points, going 2-3 from beyond the arc. Horford was quiet for the first 17 minutes of the game as he scored just eight points off of five shots. In the first 12 minutes of action, Curry went 6-8 from three, scoring 21 points. The move was met with tons of criticism aimed towards the Celtics as one season in Philadelphia and OKC left many to believe Horford’s best days were well behind him. However, fitting Embiid and Horford together in the same starting lineup was a challenge for the 76ers. Last offseason, the Thunder moved Horford once again so he could make his return to Boston for a second stint.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A backbreaking barrage of 3-pointers that leaves the opponent cloaked in helplessness, searching for answers from a higher power.

From that point on, they went 26-7 with a net rating of plus-13.8, five points better than the closest challenger, and earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics know how to fight back because they've been fighting back all year long, and Udoka continued to preach resilience as the Warriors extended their lead in the third quarter. Defensively, the Celtics went to a lot more switching and pre-switching in the fourth quarter in order to limit Curry's shooting and the Warriors' penetration. Udoka said the small unit played also played with more physicality and "seemed to wear [the Warriors] down a little bit." They held Golden State to 6-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter, including 1-for-6 from 3-point range, before the benches were emptied in the final minute, and forced as many turnovers as the Warriors had assists. "Strength in Numbers" has been the Warriors' motto for years, but on Thursday it certainly applied to the Celtics. The attack was so widespread that the Warriors had nobody to key in on. The Celtics also used small-ball, a Golden State staple of years past, to dominate the fourth quarter on both ends. They moved the ball quickly, penetrating into the paint and kicking out to players in perfect position with even more perfect passes. Instead the Boston Celtics went on an unprecedented run in the fourth quarter, sparked by lights-out shooting and pinpoint ball-movement, to come away with a 120-108 Game 1 win in San Francisco, draining the life from what had been an electrically rabid sellout crowd. His 13 assists, however, epitomized a Celtics team -- bolstered by the messaging of head coach Ime Udoka -- committed to making the right play, no matter how simple, trusting that it would eventually yield positive results. A 38-point third quarter of that nature has been a knockout blow for many an unfortunate opponent over the last eight seasons of Warriors basketball. A scoring run that leaves you scouring the record books, unable to fathom that something this devastating has ever happened before.

Why Boston's relative inexperience might have been overrated, that overwhelming 4th-quarter run and more from the Celtics' theft of Finals homecourt.

And that’s what should concern the Warriors. Not only did they lose a game with Tatum misfiring (3-17 FGs), they must anticipate a strong Game 2 response. And even if that’s not necessarily true, it’s perhaps the right mindset to have to allow that motivation — or desperation — to instill a sense of urgency within an aging player. The usual roles were reversed and the outcome was delivered in a most unanticipated manner: The Celtics shot 51% from deep for the game and made seven 3s to start the fourth. Sure did, managing to throw the Finals and the Warriors for a loop. The way Horford sank timely 3s in the fourth quarter, applied traps defensively, and essentially showed the leadership the Celtics have valued since his return this season proved invaluable. After what he did against the Bucks and Heat in the previous rounds, a grand entrance in the Finals shouldn’t be much of a surprise. He was on pace to finally get a 40-piece in this postseason (he came six short, though). The Celtics arrived here with little rest, were on the road against a team previously unbeaten in this building in the playoffs, were down 12 to start the fourth quarter, staring at a percolating Stephen Curry, with Jayson Tatum unable to get buckets … and proceeded to punch the Warriors right in the mouth. Against the Warriors. Against Curry and Klay Thompson. This was a case of stolen identity. And usually it takes one stolen game to win a title. Did the Celtics actually out-small the Warriors and also out-shoot them from deep? What you saw was the searing response of a team that actually was experienced under bright lights.

Boston seized a win to open the NBA Finals and put Golden State in the rarest of situations.

So the Warriors can comfort themselves with their vast experience and their history of resilience and all those banners hanging above the Chase Center court. We’ve won a road game, at least one road game, in I don’t know how many consecutive series.” The guys are good, but…” Green kept pausing, cocking his head to the left and raising his palms, as if to say, without saying it, but there’s no way they can do that again. They’re stronger defensively than the Mavericks and Grizzlies were. So no, it’s not a hit to the confidence at all. And they won this game despite getting just 12 points (on 3-for-17 shooting) from franchise star Jayson Tatum. Sure, the Golden State Warriors have been down in playoff series before, and knocked off kilter in the Finals before. “You get a chance to do something else, do it in a different way, embrace the challenge. Horford, who averaged 1.3 threes per game this season, hit six (on eight attempts). Smart, a career 33 percent shooter on threes, went 4 for 7. Marcus Smart hit a pair of threes. Al Horford hit a pair of threes. And then, all that familiarity and experience feel like a tattered, moth-riddled security blanket.

Usually Stephen Curry blitzes end up sending even the most determined squads cowering to their corners, but the Warriors haven't encountered these Boston ...

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A wild Game 1 marked a return to normalcy on the advertising front, as studios emboldened by Tom Cruise's box office splurged on hoops.

Breen, who is on the mend, also missed Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Backing out of a TV buy would not only be bad for business, but it wouldn’t make sense in the greater scheme of things. The ABC parent company used Game 1 as a vehicle to promote a sampling of its summer popcorn slate, running spots for Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder and the Pixar Toy Story prequel Lightyear. The recently-launched Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi also got a turn in the NBA Finals spotlight. As much as it’s understandable that some fans might have been surprised to see that the cryptocurrency exchange was still plugging away on the promotional front (and in the summer’s most impactful media environment, no less), the NBA Finals buy represents only a small part of Crypto’s marketing plan. Ime Udoka’s squad is now 8-2 on the road for the postseason, and in waltzing off with the opener, the Celtics gave Steve Kerr what amounts to only his third Game 1 loss in 24 playoff series appearances. (Curry went on to ring up a game-high 34 points to Tatum’s 12.) But Boston played a flawless fourth, knocking down shot after shot while stifling the Warriors’ offense.

The Warriors were ran out of the gym by Boston in the fourth quarter of Game 1 — and it wasn't just because the Celtics made shots.

The Warriors lost because their offense couldn’t crack Boston’s defense late in the fourth quarter when it mattered. Warriors opponents took nearly 38 percent of their field goal attempts from three on the season, which ranked No. 21 in the league. The Warriors lost because their defense yielded way too many wide open looks from three. Boston has four or five shooting threats on the floor in every lineup they play. The Warriors’ offense wasn’t. The Celtics defense certainly was. The Warriors went 0-for-5 over that stretch. those guys, give them credit, they knocked down every big shot in the fourth quarter, they came in and got the win." Golden State didn’t make another field goal until the 1:09 mark of the fourth quarter. It’s easy to point to Boston’s hot shooting from behind the arc as the biggest reason they were able to steal Game 1. The Warriors looked like they were well on their way to victory through three quarters in Game 1. What happened from there was at once one of the great collapses and great comebacks in NBA Finals history. The +24 margin in the final frame tied an all-time NBA Finals record.

The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors combined to make an NBA Finals record 40 3-pointers, attempting a combined 86 shots from beyond the arc.

According to CBS Sports, the 21 3-pointers made by Boston is the second most in NBA Finals history. Obviously that’s a great team, it’s not gonna be easy." "We know what it takes to overcome a deficit like that.

The Golden State Warriors entered the series opener with 123 more combined games of NBA Finals experience than the Boston Celtics and left with the worst ...

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Klay Thompson met with the media after the Golden State Warriors lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

- SHOULD THE BUCKS MAKE A TRADE? The Milwaukee Bucks lost Game 7 to the Boston Celtics, which officially ended their 2021-22 NBA season in the second-round. "We all have been through situations like this, and we realize that it's gonna be very hard, and the best part about it is we have another opportunity Sunday." The Celtics are in the Finals for the first time since the 2010 season when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

A whole lot of stats help tell the story of the Warriors' Game 1 loss to the Celtics, but these five should open some eyes.

Reminder: This came right after the Warriors scored 38 points in the third quarter to the Celtics' 24. "My gut reaction, what I just witnessed, they came in and played a hell of a fourth quarter, and you have to give them credit," Kerr said. "They took advantage of every opportunity and moved the ball." "The adjustments of what it felt like out there, what the looks were, where we got in trouble a little bit out there and making the adjustments for the next game. "That's the beauty of this series, and looking forward to playing a team like that and a guy like that," Curry continued. The margin for error in the Finals in miniscule. To no surprise, where it hurt the Warriors most was the fourth quarter. In Game 1 against the Celtics, Green finished 2-for-12 from the field and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. White was held scoreless the last time the Warriors faced the Celtics and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. He's no slouch there, and the Warriors have to get a hand in his face. Horford's six 3-pointers are the most ever for a player in a Finals debut. This was a teeter-totter full of swings and momentum, with Boston coming out on the winning side.

Whatever we thought we knew about this matchup between the Warriors and the Celtics — the expectations we held, the predictions we made — we were wrong.

We’re in the Finals. All I was worried about was trying to get a win, and we did. We’re in the championship. I just tried to impact the game in other ways. Even more, these veteran Warriors, who summer in the Finals the way some people do in the Hamptons, have gone 21-2 in playoff Game 1s under Coach Steve Kerr. The expectation should have been for the Warriors to carry the momentum of that early three-point barrage all the way to a victory. But after Curry got done playing pop-a-shot, Boston didn’t buckle beneath the tidal wave of threes and returned to the business of playing defense. The poor Warriors fans watching at home could’ve used a heads up about the explicit material on their television screens — in the form of the Celtics making 9 of their 12 three-pointers and outscoring Golden State 40-16 in the fourth. With Horford (26 points) and Jaylen Brown (24) hitting the looks that he could not, Boston didn’t miss Tatum’s offense. And how’s this for another of the night’s curveballs: Tatum did not walk into Chase Center wearing one of those casual T-shirt/shorts combos he often chose during the Eastern Conference finals. NBA teams fly charter, so they’ll never experience the thrill of being cramped inside a petri dish of an airplane with crying babies and maskless seat neighbors like the rest of the us. But after three days of prattling on and on about youth versus experience, and dissecting everything from the head-to-head matchups to all the swollen body parts belonging to Celtics’ players, for at least one game, that talk turned into hot air. But it’s more being excited and ready for the moment.” So much for relying on the power of home-court advantage.

It's an unfamiliar feeling to these Golden State Warriors, be it in this brand-spanking-new building or even the old heavenly one, to be victims of thievery in ...

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Kyle Kuzma sent out a tweet about the Boston Celtics, who won Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday evening.

- SHOULD THE BUCKS MAKE A TRADE? The Milwaukee Bucks lost Game 7 to the Boston Celtics, which officially ended their 2021-22 NBA season in the second-round. The Celtics won the game by a score of 120-108 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The Celtics had trailed by double-digits entering the fourth quarter, but they roared back to win the final period by a score of 40-16.

Losing 120-108 to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors now find their backs up against the wall heading into Game ...

As Steve Kerr mentioned, this is just one game and whoever wins the championship this year will have to win four games, not one or two. Their blend of three-point shooting on offense and being able to switch almost any ball-screen defensively is what makes them a very worthy foe to Golden State in this series. “You know, we've been in this position before, and we've won series where we've lost the first game,” Kerr said. Golden State knows they are more than capable of bouncing back in this series though and veteran All-Star Draymond Green mentioned that in his postgame remarks on Thursday night. The guys are good shooters, but they combined for, what, 15 out of 8; Smart, 7, 8, 15-for-23,” Green said. “They hit 21 threes, and Marcus Smart and Al Horford and Derrick White combined for 15 of them.

Celtics are NBA Finals favorites after a Game 1 comeback against the Warriors. Find out where our expert thinks you should place your bet.

"Golden State can still win this series and if you're a believer, this would be the time to buy stock at plus money." Before the season started, FOX Bet had Boston at 40-1 to win it all. The Boston Celtics shocked the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, winning 120-108.

Derrick White's 21 points off the bench played a key role in the Celtics' Game 1 win over the Warriors -- and called to mind a similar NBA Finals ...

"To get 21 from him when other guys were struggling ... we needed that," Celtics head coach Ime Udoka said of White after Thursday's Game 1. The Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games to capture their first NBA title since 1986. Celtics fans of a certain age should remember that game well.

After watching a double-digit lead slip away in the fourth quarter of the 2022 NBA Finals opener Thursday night, Warriors fans might feel like Game 2 is a ...

Surprisingly, though, teams that win Game 1 of the Finals on the road have been crowned champions just 47.1 percent of the time. The Warriors certainly hope that fact rings true Sunday when they regroup for Game 2 at Chase Center. Obviously, teams that win the opening game of the Finals have an advantage and have gone onto win the championship 70.7 percent of the time.

The 2022 NBA Finals are underway as the Warriors face the Celtics in the best-of-seven series with an NBA Championship on the line.

The Warriors stand united with our fellow Bay Area teams to recognize National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend, honoring the more than 40,000 lives that are taken by gun violence each year. The Dubs look to even up the best-of-series with Game 2 taking place on Sunday, and tickets are available now. As we ramp up for the remainder of the series, let’s recap the biggest Dubs news of the week and take a peek of what’s to come in the latest Warriors Weekly.

Take a closer look at Boston's 120-108 victory over Golden State in Game 1 with a deep dive into all aspects of the box score.

• Entering the Finals, the Warriors (66.9%) and Celtics (65.5%) ranked first and second in the playoffs in percentage of assisted field goals. • Derrick White had more success against Curry as he held him to five points on 2-for-6 shooting (1-for-1 from 3-point range) in 3:42 of matchup time. • Boston made 21 3-pointers in Game 2 – their second-highest total in any playoff game and the most ever in a Finals game. Brown’s matchups scored just four points and shot 2-for-6 from the field and missed both 3-point attempts. • Jayson Tatum led all players in assist percentage, dishing out 37.1% of Boston’s field goals while he was on the court. While Tatum was ice cold, the rest of the Celtics combined to shoot 40-for-68 (58.8%) from the field in Game 1. Midway through the third quarter, the Warriors led 19-5 in second-chance points – thanks in large part to Kevon Looney’s six offensive rebounds – before Boston closed the gap during that pivotal fourth-quarter comeback. However, the hot start was not sustainable; he scored 13 more points over the final three quarters on 5-for-16 (31.3%) shooting from the field, including 1-for-6 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. • Horford played in 141 playoff games before reaching the NBA Finals ( the most in NBA history) and he made the most of his first game on the Finals stage. • Al Horford (11 points, 4-4 FGs, 2-2 3PM) and Jaylen Brown (10 points, 4-6 FGs, 2-3 3PM) combined for 21 of Boston’s 40 fourth-quarter points. After trailing by 15 points late in the third quarter, the Boston Celtics came roaring back, outscoring the Warriors 40-16 in the fourth quarter and stealing Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals in San Francisco 120-108. • The game ultimately hinged on a 30-point swing; both teams led by as many as 15 points.

The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors met in San Francisco last night for Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals. But before tipoff, the two teams engaged ...

"We pretty much dominated the game for the first 41, 42 minutes," Golden State Warriors defensive guru Draymond Green said of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, ...

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