Boston Celtics center Al Horford celebrates with teammates during the second half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Thursday. (Photo: AP)NBA Finals Game 5, Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics Highlights: The Boston Celtics have stolen home field advantage from the Golden State Warriors after pulling off a 12-point comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It’s hard to imagine a more impressive start than that and it’s also difficult to believe that the Warriors won’t go back to the drawing board and start Sunday’s Game 2 with a chip on their shoulder. This is not going to be a sweep, that seems pretty obvious after the back-and-forth battle between these two teams today.
The franchises have met four times previously in the playoffs, the first three occurring in the Eastern Conference finals before the Warriors moved west from Philadelphia. The Celtics won all four matchups, including in 1960 and 1962 in the second and fourth seasons of their eight straight championships.
For Steve Kerr’s Warriors, this is their sixth Finals appearance in eight seasons and this dynasty is looking for its fourth Larry O’Brien trophy, a feat that could cement the team amongst the greatest teams of all-time. At the other end of the floor is a Celtics team led by first-year head coach Ime Ukoda, who has done a remarkable job turning the franchise into one of the best defensive teams in the league after a rocky start to the season. Here’s the highlights of the NBA Finals Game 1, Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics:
Boston Celtics defense will be up against the Golden State Warriors' offense in Game 1 of the NBA finals.
The Boston Celtics have stolen home field advantage from the Golden State Warriors after pulling off a 12-point comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It’s hard to imagine a more impressive start than that and it’s also difficult to believe that the Warriors won’t go back to the drawing board and start Sunday’s Game 2 with a chip on their shoulder. This is not going to be a sweep, that seems pretty obvious after the back-and-forth battle between these two teams today.
After a long and eventful road to the NBA finals, Golden State’s modest break came to an abrupt end. Boston made sure of it, stunning Golden State, 120-108, to take the opening game of the best-of-seven series at Chase Center. The Celtics have won Game 1 of the NBA Finals!
Thompson scores real quick but there’s no more time left. Plus, Horford makes a layup immediately afterwards. Green fouls him on the play and that probably will wrap things up for the Warriors here. Horford makes the and one and the Celtics, who have a 15-point lead, take a timeout. This one is over.
Draymond Green gets called for an offensive foul that eliminates a Warriors basket. On the other end, Smart makes another three-pointer. They’ve gone 9-for-11 from three in this quarter and that might seal a huge Game 1 road win here.
Golden State’s third-quarter runs can be demoralizing for opponents, but the Celtics have fought back in a big way in the fourth quarter. Boston outscored Golden State 23-11 to start the fourth quarter and tied the game at 103.
A score here would be huge for Boston. And they get it! It’s a Horford midrange-jumper to put them up by eight. The clock is starting to be an issue for the Warriors. However, Green gets fouled and gets a chance to cut into Boston’s lead…
And he misses both. Warriors could come to rue those gimmes. Boston takes a full timeout after Tatum secures the rebound.
It’s raining 3-pointers today which started with Stephen Curry. Klay hits a monster three, Brown hits a layup, Green dunks, Pritchard hits a three, Curry hits a jumper. The Celtics were not behind as they gave an apt reply. What is even happening today!!
It takes about a second and a half from the moment Stephen Curry releases the basketball for it to reach the hoop more than 22 feet away, a flicker of time that somehow feels frozen for an expectant crowd, for his defenders and teammates, for television viewers and front office executives.
“Emotionally, he’ll take you on a journey,” said Bob Myers, the Golden State general manager. “And I’m not sure that exists for other players. It’s something to behold.”
Brown hits a three-pointer and then Brown and the Time Lord combine for an alley-oop dunk that forces Warriors into calling a timeout. That’s a 7-0 Celtics run and that’s absolutely what they needed to do here. Can Golden State counterpunch?
So, can Boston make up a 12-point deficit? Not impossible, but Tatum is going to need a big game and the defence will have to be flawless. We’ve definitely seen it before.
Remember all that hounding defense that the Celtics played on Curry in the second quarter? He has found more space here in the third quarter, and his acrobatic layup has Golden State back up by 9. He’s up to 28 points for the game.
Miserable way to close out a miserable quarter for the Celtics: Pritchard puts Poole on the line for two free throws. He makes them. Williams gets a dunk to cut the lead down to eleven points. Iguodala hits a three.
Poole gets free throws (the foulis on White) he makes both. Porter finally misses his first three but the Time Lord fouls Wiggins and puts him on the line, he makes both free throws and pulls off a nifty steal.
Curry gets on the line, and gets a foul on Tatum. As one would expect. Horford can’t hit a three and Porter secures a rebound. Celtics teetering. AND POOLE HITS A THREE!
It feels like the Warriors have a chance to put their foot down right here and right now but no leads are safe here in this game. I’ll be honest, I was expecting far less back-and-forth. Out of the timeout, Looney tips in his miss and makes it a 7-0 Warriors run.
Klay Thompson launches an orbital jump shots beside his longtime teammate Stephen Curry. The nets singed with swishes, same as they ever had.
Tatum turns it over giving the ball back to Golden State. It’s their time for a timeout.
And the Splash Brothers hit back-to-back baskets as Thompson makes a jumper to push up the Warriors lead. Green gets called for a foul on Horford, who hits one-of-two free throws.
And as I had thought, Curry has rediscovered his stroke during halftime and makes another three to push his team ahead. Should I go and get lotto tickets?
What I’m looking for in the second half:
1. Steph Curry has three fouls. Will the Celtics attack him on defense like they did in the second quarter?
2. Robert Williams III has mostly been ineffective. Will the Celtics mostly go small and play Derrick White instead?
3. The Warriors had three free throws total in the first half and their 3-point shooting slowed down in the second quarter. Will Golden State focus on attacking the rim more with Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry?
Wiggins gets a three-pointer to start the third so now Boston are starting the quarter down. Curry gets back into scoring as well, nailing a floater to increase the Warriors lead.
Steph Curry is blazing hot today. His six 3-pointers in the first quarter set an NBA record for most 3s in a finals quarter, as well as most ulcers caused in the Boston fanbase. He broke his own record, which he shared with Ray Allen and Kenny Smith, who, I’m told, was once an NBA player before he was a TNT commentator.
Alright, I am already tired keeping up with the pace of this match. So might be Steph Curry, who didn’t score a single point in the second half after hitting six three-pointers in the first. Expect him to come out of halftime refreshed and dangerous. The Celtics’ two-point lead does not feel like a lead at all: it almost feels like they’re still going to be playing from behind in the second half.
Celtics 56-54 Warriors, end of the first half. Wiggins ties it up but Curry picks up his third foul. Tatum goes on the line, trying to tip the scales back in Boston’s favor. Poole replaces Curry for the rest of the quarter while Tatum drains his free throws. Celtics force Porter into a huge out-of-bounds turnover and that’s effectively the end of the first half.
Porter hits yet another three to put the Warriors back up by one. On the other end: yet another Brown travel. Curry is looking to score in this second quarter… but gets called for an offensive foul. On the other end, Horford hits a three and Boston pops back up front.
And in a turnaround, Celtics lead the Warriors for the first time. Brown steals the ball from Wiggins and gets it to Smart for a game-tying layup. Brown then gets fouled by Wiggins and gets to the line with a chance to untie it. He does, nailing two free throws.
Boston’s defence has started to get stops and that’s been the key to this turnaround for them. Unfortunately for them, Kevon Looney immediately breaks the stalemate with a made basket.
And Brown makes it a one possession game! And then ties it with a jumper! Back-to-back baskets for Brown and the Warriors take their timeout! Let’s start over!
Golden State’s double-digit lead doesn’t last for long as Brown hits a pull-up jumper and the Time Lord Robert Williams forces a timeout with a dunk that cuts the Warriors’ lead to six points.
Stephen Curry has set the NBA Finals record for three-pointers made in a quarter with six in the first quarter. The previous record was five, shared by Curry, Ray Allen and Kenny Smith.
After the timeout, Jordan Poole picks up his first foul. Not a lot of those so far. Brown attempts a three on Boston’s possession, and it’s no good. Then —of course— White picks up his second foul. Warriors can’t convert either.
Stephen Curry doing what he does best, breaking records
Boston living by the three, even Daniel Theis has hit one now but inbetween the first points from Andre Iguodala and Jordan Poole to keep the Warriors just ahead. However, one more Porter triple forces Boston into their second timeout.
White has been a monster for the Celtics during this postseason. Otto Porter Jr hits the first shot of the second quarter from Golden State, a three. The second quarter has started as the Celtics look to narrow down the gaps!
Stephen Curry scores the sixth 3-pointer of the first quarter, the most scored by anyone in the first quarter of a final.
A lot of bench players here at the end of the first quarter. Not coincidentally, we get a few bricks before Curry hit his FIFTH three-pointer. He already has 18 points!
The Warriors continue to maintain the lead as Thompson scores. Luckily, old man Al Horford is there to respond. Grant Williams, in to spell Robert, fouls Curry who makes one of two free throws. After a few rare scoreless possessions, the Warriors take their first timeout.
Stephen curry is on fire in the first quarter as the Golden State Warriors star scores 15 points.
So, things are getting back for Celtics as they are just one shot away from the Warriors.
Stephen Curry is on a roll for the Warriors as Celtics take their first timeout. Tatum misses two free throws. The Celtics resort to trading baskets while behind and then a Curry triple forces our first break in the action.
Both Celtics and Warriors' offenses have heated up. Thompson hits a three. Curry and Wiggins score layups, with a Smart three in between.
Tatum ties it with a three, Wiggins makes a layup and Smart adds a three his own.
Warriors score first on a Steph Curry three, something that is a common sight for all following the game.
Warriors 0-0 Celtics, 11:21, first quarter. And we’re off! Celtics win the opening tip but can’t score on their first possession.
Jayson Tatum, G/F
Jaylen Brown, G/F
Al Horford, F
Marcus Smart, G
Robert Williams III, C
Steph Curry, G
Klay Thompson, G/F
Draymond Green, F/C
Andrew Wiggins, F
Kevon Looney, C
On one hand the Celtics have had the best defence in the NBA in the regular season and the postseason, which should make this a challenge for Golden State. However, there’s one trick that the Warriors could exploit: their propensity for turnovers.
The Celtics are allowing an extra 3.6 points per 100 possessions in transition in the postseason, per Cleaning the Glass—the worst mark for any team that reached the second round. This is something that anybody watched Boston’s hot-and-cold performances in the last two series could probably have assumed. The Warriors, who have a superior defence, could easily make this a short series if that trend continues.
The NBA has released the following list of celebrities at tonight's Finals opener. San Francisco always has the cooler musicians and Jay Z tops the list of guests tonight.
Good news for the Celtics, center Robert Williams is scheduled to start today, although he may be playing limited minutes. Ime Udoka has said to expect him to play around 20 minutes. Meanwhile on the Warriors’ side: Gary Payton II, Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr are all cleared. That’s right: a totally clean injury report for the first time all post-season.
Good morning and welcome to our liveblog covering the first match of the seven-part NBA finals. If you had the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors as the last two teams standing at the start of the season, something which last happened in the 1964 NBA Finals well… I really hope you bought lottery tickets.
Nobody knew exactly what the Warriors would look like after missing Klay Thompson for such a long stretch of time. Meanwhile, the last time the Celtics were in the NBA Finals was 2010 where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. They had a rough regular season as well, having to adjust to a new head coach in Ime Udoka and were working without an All-Star point guard. Yet here they both are.