Final: Celtics 120, Warriors 108: Celtics storm back in 4th, win Game 1 on road

These Celtics never quit — even on basketball’s highest stage. 

Despite trailing by as much as 15 points with two minutes to go in the third quarter, the Celtics rattled off a dominant final 12 minutes of play on Thursday night — outscoring the Warriors, 40-16, in the fourth en route to an improbable 120-108 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. 

With the win, the C’s take a 1-0 series edge in the best-of-seven slate, with Game 2 set for Sunday night at Chase Center. 

Thanks to two separate runs that saw the C’s outscore the Warriors, 9-0, and 17-0, Boston blew the doors off of Golden State in the fourth — with Al Horford (26 points), Jaylen Brown (24 points) and Derrick White (21 points) leading the charge for Boston. 

In total, the 24-point differential that the Celtics put forth in the fourth quarter stands as the largest point differential in any quarter in NBA Finals history — with a seasoned Golden State squad left completely shell-shocked by a C’s team that also had zero fourth-quarter points from Jayson Tatum. 

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NBA FINALS, GAME 1
Golden State Warriors vs. Boston Celtics
Chase Center
9:00 PM - ABC 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Golden State: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney

OFFICIALS

#8 Marc Davis

#10 John Goble

#60 James Williams

Alternate: #14 Ed Malloy

Replay Center: Zach Zarba

INJURIES

Celtics: 

Robert Williams III – AVAILABLE (left knee soreness)

Warriors:

Andre Iguodala – AVAILABLE (left cervical disc injury)

Gary Payton II – AVAILABLE (fractured left elbow)

Otto Porter Jr. – AVAILABLE (left foot soreness)

James Wiseman – OUT (right knee injury management)

ODDS

Golden State is favored by 3.5

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Experience vs. Youth

The Warriors have been there before … five times before, actually. This is their sixth trip to the Finals in eight years. Boston hasn’t been here since 2010 and only two current Celtics were in the league when this dynastic run started.

So the Celtics will have to draw on the experience from their coaching staff.

“I've been to two myself, and some of our assistants,” Ime Udoka said. “But I'd say overrated in general. Our young guys have had a lot of success so far getting to the Eastern Conference Finals multiple times.

“So for us, try to simplify it, not overcomplicate it. Business as usual, basketball as usual. The things we did to be successful coming here, we'll try to do more of the same.”

The Warriors have the more recent banners, but for all their experience on the roster, there's also some level of similar newness. 

“Our players felt it yesterday at Media Day. That was unlike anything a lot of them had ever felt,” Steve Kerr said. “Today will be similar, just going out there -- everything feels sort of magnified, but the whole key is when the game starts, it's just the game. Our older guys have addressed that to the younger guys, and the hope is you settle in as quickly as possible and you get yourself going.”

One of the keys of this series will be whose experience is more impactful. Will the Warriors and their title runs give them the poise to get through tough spots, or will Boston’s ignorance allow them to just focus on the game at hand.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Too hyped: I’d bet a nickel that the first few shots for the Celtics end up missing a bit long as the Celtics come out with a little too much juice. The Celtics will certainly be prisoners of the moment, the only question is how quickly they can escape. If they can pull out of it early in the game and just hoop, they’ll be okay.

2: Turnover battle: This is the simplest thing to watch for of all. The team that turns it over more loses. The Warriors give up 21 or more points off turnovers in their losses, so Boston needs to get into those passing lanes and get running. 

3: Handling Golden State’s zone defense: The Warriors will junk up the game with different variations of zone defenses, which have historically bothered the Celtics. The junk defenses are meant to throw teams off for a few possessions, and it’ll be imperative that they recognize these right away and make the Warriors pay for it. 

A LITTLE MORE

I broke down what it would take for the Celtics to win on both sides of the ball on the latest Locked On Celtics podcast: 

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.