The Boston Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors 120-108 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics outscored the Warriors 40-16 in the 4th quarter en route to victory.
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(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson has emerged as a front-runner for the Charlotte Hornets’ head-coaching job, sources tell The Athletic's Shams Charania and Sam Amick, and will meet next week with team officials — including owner Michael Jordan — in the next step of his candidacy.
It will mark the third meeting between the Hornets and Atkinson, and the first involving Jordan, sources said.
Possible Game 2 adjustment mentioned within here: Put Draymond Green on Jaylen Brown instead of Al Horford. Brings Draymond more into the mix instead of roaming off a stretch big.
Draymond Green, Warriors guarded 3-point line too casually in Game 1 loss to Celtics
When Marcus Smart threw his arms up with two minutes left in the game, he did so in celebration. In Chase Center, where the Warriors often run away from opponents, the Celtics were nearing the end of a stunning fourth-quarter comeback. In the place Steph Curry usually owns, the Celtics were hammering the Warriors with the type of flurry Golden State typically lands on others. The huge run, which started with Curry on the bench, never stopped until Game 1 ended with a 120-108 Boston win. While smacking the Warriors with an endless barrage of 3-pointers, the Celtics simultaneously proved ready for a physical and mental challenge unlike any other. Throughout a 40-16 fourth quarter beatdown, they limited Curry, shut down the proven Warriors offense and stared down the Golden State mystique.
“That’s kind of who we’ve been all year: Tough grinders,” said Ime Udoka. “A resilient group that we can always know we can rely on our defense to kind of buckle down when needed.”
Sure. But against the Warriors? On the road? During the first NBA Finals game for every player on the Celtics roster? And, on top of all that, while needing to blast away a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit?
(Photo: Cary Edmondson / USA Today)
Celtics solve Steph Curry, Warriors in Game 1: ‘We know what it takes to win’
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors are in the NBA Finals because when Stephen Curry takes his seat, they have been just fine.
Sure, they lose a stint here and there. But, generally, the ball was in Jordan Poole’s hands. Klay Thompson was free to hunt for shots and find a rhythm. Players like Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II and Nemanja Bjelica made enough timely plays on either end. And Draymond Green, the defensive anchor and vocal leader, made sure it all worked.
For most of the season, and well into these playoffs, that was enough. For up to six minutes, coach Steve Kerr and his superstar could be patient and confident while Curry sat with a towel over his head. The “others,” as Shaquille O’Neal calls them, could be counted on to hold it down.
But after Game 1, that doesn’t seem to be so sure a bet. Not against this Boston defense. Not when the Celtics are countering with Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown on the court at all times.
(Photo: Cary Edmondson / USA Today)
Stephen Curry was elite in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Warriors need to ask more of him
Andrew Schlecht and Mark Schindler recap Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals. Warriors get stunned, Celtics up one.
🛎️NEW DAILY DING🛎️ 🏀Celtics Stun the Ws in the 4th 🏀Brown, Horford, and White dominate 🏀What adjustments can the Warriors make? 🎙️@AndrewKSchlecht 🎙️@MG_Schindler Listen Apple: https://t.co/K7r4qlpjaT Spotify: https://t.co/m51IYXr0S1 pic.twitter.com/OAbm1GZn4k
After two years of rocky, impugned TV ratings, the NBA is back riding a high, with this month’s Golden State-Boston finals likely to serve as a crescendo. Every week seems to bring some new accomplishment to tout. Game 7 of the Celtics-Heat series was the most-watched conference finals game in four years. More people watched the first round of these playoffs on ESPN than any postseason since 2014. The first playoff weekend had the biggest audience since 2011. This was the most-viewed regular season on TV since the 2018-19 campaign. Wherever you look, historical accomplishments loom.
(Photo: Noah Graham / NBAE via Getty Images)
Warriors, new stars and more: Why NBA’s TV ratings are back up
As Jayson Tatum ran up and down the floor watching the comeback take place around him, he never forced his way into the flow of the game. The ball would swing his way, and he would move it. He kept contesting shots on defense, then sprinting to the corners to lead the break. When he got the ball in the paint in transition with just under five minutes left, he didn’t even think about forcing a shot. Instead, he kicked it out to a trailing Al Horford to bury the 3 and take the Celtics’ first two-possession lead. In the end, they won 120-108 and now lead the series.
It’s the kind of game management Tatum’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, has been preaching to him since last summer.
“I think the biggest thing is the advice that Michael Jordan gave Kobe Bryant: At the end of the day, the only thing that people are going to judge you on is if you get the job done or not,” Hanlen told The Athletic after the game. “In past years, (Tatum’s) focus has been on scoring and being able to carry the load on the offensive end through scoring. Whereas now, it’s more so just reading what the defense is giving him, making the right play, not forcing shots, not taking ‘my turn’ shots, and really just getting everybody involved.”
(Photo: Cary Edmondson / USA Today)
Jayson Tatum has record 13 assists in NBA Finals debut win
Maybe the Golden State Warriors were just putting on a very brave face after a torrentially and historically terrible fourth quarter. Maybe these were just futile gestures and empty words. Maybe it’s already over. Maybe they’re done after this epic Game 1 collapse.
It’s possible. This was an immense NBA Finals loss. A crushing loss. Possibly a confidence-destroying loss.
But it is not Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson’s style to concede anything to any kind of presumed conclusion. It’s just not how the Warriors think, operate, speak or endure. It’s not how they’ve won three championships in this era, it’s not how they got back to the finals this year, and it’s not how they dealt with their stunning 120-108 defeat to the Celtics at Chase Center on Thursday.
“It’s fine,” Green said of falling behind in a series for the first time this postseason. “You get a chance to do something else, do it in a different way, embrace the challenge. We’ve always embraced challenges. It’s no different. We’ll embrace this one. So no, it’s not a hit to the confidence at all, not one bit.”
(Photo: Cary Edmondson / USA Today)
Kawakami: Warriors stay calm after an epic Game 1 collapse against Celtics
NBA Finals: Key stat, key moment, MVP watch from Warriors-Celtics Game 1
In the aftermath of a Game 1 fourth-quarter collapse, it’ll be simple, upon film review, for the Warriors to pinpoint which of the 21 made 3s from the Celtics stung most. It came with just over five minutes left and the Warriors protecting a three-point lead that had been 12 entering the quarter.
Otto Porter Jr. shut down a Jaylen Brown drive, forced him to pick up his dribble and pitch it back to Derrick White with four seconds left on the shot clock. The Warriors’ defensive game plan informs them to sag off White, a 31 percent 3-point shooter who’d been worse over the totality of these playoffs entering Thursday night.
But it wasn’t necessary for Steph Curry to give White room. He already had him bottled up without enough time to drive or pass. Curry just needed to get a hand up to contest White’s pump fake and prayer. Curry did his job. White still hit the shot, a demoralizer that tied the game.
(Photo: Darren Yamashita / USA Today)
Draymond Green, Warriors guarded 3-point line too casually in Game 1 loss to Celtics
SAN FRANCISCO — “Hi. My name is Derrick.”
It was training camp 2019, in scorching Las Vegas. The first time Marcus Smart met Derrick White was there in the desert, with the two set to work for Gregg Popovich on the USA Basketball World Cup team.
“First thing Derrick said … and that was it,” Smart remembered.
White was quiet then, and now. But he no longer needs an introduction. Certainly not to the Celtics, or to the Warriors, or to the rest of the NBA playoffs.
(Photo: Darren Yamashita / USA Today)
Derrick White’s meteoric rise for Boston Celtics continues at NBA Finals
Who was the guy in Game 1?
Jaylen Brown. He received some incredible help from Derrick White and Al Horford with their shooting. But it was the Boston Celtics’ other star who had a great fourth quarter following a tough first half to help his team capture Game 1 over the Golden State Warriors. Brown finished with 24 points on 10-of-23 from the field and had four turnovers, but he kept playing through his struggles in the first three quarters (14 points on 6-of-17 shooting). In the fourth, Brown came alive with 10 points, almost all of them in the blink of an eye, to help the Celtics erase a 12-point deficit. That turnaround helped set the tone for the fourth, which the Celtics dominated.
(Photo: Cary Edmondson / USA Today)
NBA Finals: Key stat, key moment, MVP watch from Warriors-Celtics Game 1
“One down. It ain’t over.” Marcus Smart is locked in. #BleedGreen pic.twitter.com/mvMmsy33lP
JAYSON x JAY Z 🤝 @jaytatum0 and HOV following the @celtics Game 1 win. pic.twitter.com/WWN2jJUVvk
Ime Udoka: "That's kind of who we've been all year: Tough grinders. A resilient group."
The Celtics are the first team in NBA history to win a Finals game by double digits after trailing by double digits entering the 4th quarter.
Golden State lead 92-80 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Boston Celtics are the first team in NBA history to win a Finals game by double digits after trailing by double digits entering the 4th quarter. Their win probability fell as low as 4 percent when they were down 15 near the end of the 3rd quarter. pic.twitter.com/ce28lV5lsI
First 40-point fourth quarter by any team in the NBA Finals since Game 6 2008, when Celtics capped championship with 42-point final period vs Lakers.
An incredible 40-16 fourth quarter from the Celtics and they lead the NBA Finals. They hit some amazing shots, but this was a product of Tatum making great passing reads, Derrick White pushing the pace while hitting everything, and some incredible defense, as always.
Warriors lost some juice when Steph tried/was forced to do too much on his own. Celtics found their flow once Tatum stopped trying to do too much on his own.
Hero ball is being inverted before our eyes.
So, this just happened. pic.twitter.com/lvUynyqaMN
Warriors have been playing with fire from 3 all playoffs. They gave Memphis so many open shots, figuring the Grizzlies couldn't capitalize. They did the same against Dallas, even though the Mavericks are known for shooting threes.
But they banked on their ability to close out. Plus, they could always bank on their offense matching their opponent.
They gave a lot of the same open looks to Boston, but this time it burned them. The Celtics went 21-for-41 from 3. Once they got hot, they poured it on.
The difference with Boston, unlike with Memphis and Dallas, is their defense is good enough to clamp as well. The Warriors can't go blow-for-blow with a hot Boston squad because the Celtics' defense is energized by their offense.
The @celtics win Game 1 and take a 1-0 lead in the 2022 #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV! Game 2: Sun. 8:00pm/et on ABC pic.twitter.com/PgJxvmc8lM
Boston’s defense was unreal that fourth quarter, too. They for sure ran hot, make or miss league, all that stuff. But that was incredible defense from Boston, I thought.
Swarmed all over the place. Shut off the 3-point line. Warriors had five points in the final six minutes.
GAME WON ✅ pic.twitter.com/K3m5cieEsH