The Boston Celtics once again stuck to their weapons and despite being down 15 in the third quarter they closed on a remarkable 40-16 run in the fourth quarter to take Game 1 vs the Warriors.
The Celtics saw Jayson Tatum having a tough shooting night making just 3-of-17 from the field and scoring just 12 points. While the Warriors took Tatum’s game away from his usual standards, they did not do the same vs the Boston’s secondary stars and role players.
Once Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Al Horford got going, the Celtics carried Golden State away like an avalanche and won the game. Brown and Horford combined for 21 of the Celtics’ 40 points in the fourth quarter.
“J.B. played big. Al, Payton, D-White. Those guys made big shots, timely shots as well. And we won, right?,” Tatum said on his team’s performance during the fourth quarter.
“I had a bad shooting night. I just tried to impact the game in other ways. We’re in the championship. We’re in the Finals. All I was worried about was trying to get a win, and we did. That’s all that matters at this point.”
Bench players like Derrick White and Payton Pritchard made huge shots to put the Warriors’ defense away. Some of those shots were not open, however, the Warriors went to a zone and the Celtics punished them in many ways.
Brown attacked the paint, and Horford showed his A game shooting the ball from inside and outside the arc. Even though Tatum was not a factor in the scoring department, he had four of his 13 assists in the fourth quarter and was a +27.
Tatum was attracting many double-teams, even though he had a bad shooting night. The Celtics did not hesitate to put the ball in the hands of other players and create more open shots as a result.
“It was the way that we were moving the ball on offense, just being in those positions,” said Horford, who finished with 26 points.
“I felt like the guys kept finding me time after time. Also Derrick White hit some tough shots there, too. Yeah, it was just get the looks, knock ’em down, that’s that.”
Boston improved to 8-2 in the road during the postseason, while the Warriors have conceded the first loss at home (9-1) in this playoff run. In any case, Golden State will have to win Gm 2 and learn from a bad loss in a Finals’ game.
More importantly, they will need more production from the secondary stars, including Jordan Poole, who had nine points and was less aggressive than usual. Curry, who start the game scorching-hot with 21 of his 34 points in the first quarter, will need help.
Game 2 of the Finals is on Sunday night.
Comments