Game one of the NBA finals caught everyone by surprise. While Golden State held a comfortable lead throughout the contest, Boston won the fourth quarter 40-16. This is almost unheard of due to Golden State’s offensive power. Nevertheless, the Celtics took care of business away from home. Here is the Boston VS. Golden State Game one recap.
Tatum couldn’t throw it in the ocean if he tried. He shot an abysmal 3/17 from the field, 1/5 from three and 5/7 from the line. Despite the inefficiency, he rounded it out with some solid supporting numbers (five boards, a career-high 13 dimes, one steal and just two turnovers). What’s even more amazing about this is that the Celts won by 12, on the road, in the finals with arguably their best player playing the worst game he has this season. If they continue playing like this, this series may be over kind of soon. Still, no one on this planet is counting Golden State out. They have some pretty good basketball players on their team, so the Celtics must continue playing the way they did this time if they want to upset the Warriors. Anything is possible!
Smart was coming up clutch in the fourth frame. Apart of a fourth quarter 11-0 run, Smart finished with a blazing hot 7/11 from the field and 4/7 from three. He finished with a nice line of 18 points, five boards, four assists, two steals and no turnovers. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year played a fantastic game, especially on the offensive end. As said previously, if Smart and the rest of the Celtics continue playing at this kind of pace, they could walk away with the Larry O’Brien trophy. Another important thing to take away from this game; they have got to cover Curry face to face. If Smart can bring his defensive tenacity and disrupt Curry as much as possible, then that’ll help the Celts much more.
Horford came through with one of the best performances of his career on Thursday night. The 36 year old played in his first finals game and put up a very sexy stat-line: 26 points, six boards, three assists, one steal, and two turnovers on 9/12 from the field, 6/8 from three and 2/3 from the line. Horford has been in the league for a very long time, but this performance was just magical in terms of a first finals appearance. As a whole, the Celtics shot 21/41 from the three point line which is absurd. The Warriors will most certainly have a new game-script come game two, but Boston will be ready for it. Hopefully Horford and company can continue doing this.
Brown came through with an outstanding line of his own: 24 points, seven rebounds, five dimes, two steals, one swat, and four turnovers on 10/23 from the field, 2/8 from three and 2/2 from the line. The efficiency was a bit lacking but he was getting to the rim all night long with some ease. His three point shooting was off this game, but don’t expect that to carry on. Brown is an emerging superstar after all.
