Celts Catch Fire In The Fourth Quarter & Win Game 1 Of The NBA Finals, 120-108 Vs. Warriors

 

    It's hard to imagine a much better fourth quarter than what the Celtics conjured up this evening at the Chase Center in Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals vs. the Warriors. Boston trailed by 12 points (92-80) going into the final frame before they went absolutely bananas and outscored shell-shocked Golden State 40-16. The C's took Game 1 by a score of 120-108, proving that their lack of rest after the Eastern Conference Finals compared to the Warriors (who had a few more days off after beating Dallas in the Western Conference Finals) did not matter at all. Boston improved to 8-2 on the road this postseason while they also handed Golden State their first loss (9-1) on their shiny home court in the 2022 playoffs. Game 2 is Sunday night (8, ABC) back in San Francisco. FYI, only two teams in NBA Finals history have ever lost Games 1 & 2 at home and as you would assume, neither went on to win the series.

    There were many standouts for the Celts but none was better than their ageless power forward Al Horford (team-high 26 points, 6 rebounds) who hit a career-high six three-pointers. Shooting guard Jaylen Brown heated up in the second half and finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Point guard Marcus Smart added 18 points, five rebounds and two steals while small forward Jayson Tatum was ice cold in terms of shooting (3-of-17) so he was held to 12 points but he notched a career-high 13 assists and added five rebounds. Backup point guard Derrick White had another brilliant performance off the bench as he was a game-high plus-25 with 21 points (5 3-pointers!) in 32 impressive minutes. 

    In the first quarter, Golden State's future Hall of Famer and the best shooter in NBA history point guard Stephen Curry (game-high 34 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals) was unreal with 21 points including an NBA record six three-pointers. Once Boston figured out that maybe they should cover him and not allow so many wide open looks, he went scoreless in the second quarter and was held to 13 points in the second half. Once Curry cooled off, there wasn't really another Warrior capable of stepping up offensively. Small forward Andrew Wiggins (20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) has definitely improved, shooting guard Klay Thompson (15 points) is understandably working his way back from two ACL tears in consecutive years while power forward Draymond Green (11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) still can't shoot whatsoever (2-of-12 from the floor including 0-for-4 on 3s and 0-for-3 on FTs). The ghost of small forward Otto Porter Jr. put up 12 points off the bench for Golden State. 

    Golden State led 32-28 after the first quarter but Boston picked it up in the second quarter (28-22) to lead at halftime by two points (56-54). Things started to look bleak in the third quarter when the Warriors led by as much as 15 points and they outscored Boston 38-24. Just when you thought that it was beginning to get out of hand, the C's kept chipping away and hitting three-pointers to stay within shouting distance. Still, nobody could have expected that stunning turnaround in the fourth quarter. Boston shot six percent better from the field (50%-44%), they hit two more three-pointers (21-19) and two more free throws (13-11) and dished out nine more assists (33-24) than Golden State. The C's scored eight more points in the paint (34-26) than the Warriors and 11 more points off turnovers (21-10). It'll take more than one loss to rattle Golden State though since Curry, Thompson and Green were all part of three championship squads in recent seasons with the Warriors. Boston will have to play even better to steal Game 2 and come home with a dream 2-0 lead in the series. You can count on the Warriors playing a much better and more complete game than this on Sunday night.

Tatum Returns & C's Easily Take The Second Game Of A Back-To-Back, Winning 119-103 At Chicago

   Let's be honest: there are so many bad teams currently in the NBA. I suppose that the same thing could be said about any of the other top professional sports leagues in the U.S. but it feels even more pronounced now with so many blowouts and utterly predictable results early on in this pandemic-infested season. Boston (10-6 overall, 5-4 away) got a gift from the scheduling gods this evening as they visited Chicago (7-10 overall, 2-5 home) at the United Center. The fact that the Celts had played last night in Boston (granted it was a joke against Cleveland) hardly mattered as they dominated the awful home team 119-103. The outcome was never really in doubt as Boston led basically from start to finish and pushed their advantage to as high as 22 points before cruising to another easy win. Star Jayson Tatum was back from his Covid-19 enforced two-week plus vacation and he looked fresh as lettuce with 24 points and five assists. 

    Guard Jaylen Brown (team-high 26 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) continues to play the best basketball of his brief NBA career while point guard Marcus Smart (13 points, 11 assists, 2 steals) had a double-double in place of a resting Kemba Walker (knee), center Daniel Theis (19 points, 3 steals, 3 blocks) played well once again and power forward Tristan Thompson grabbed 10 rebounds in only 17 minutes of action. Nobody scored in double-figures from Boston's bench but five guys posted at least six points: rookie Aaron Nesmith is finding his stroke as he canned three more 3-pointers, power forward Grant Williams and point guard Jeff Teague both scored eight points and finally guards Carsen Edwards and Javante Green each added six points apiece.

    My man Bulls head coach (and fellow PC alum) Billy Donovan has his work cut out for him trying to turn that franchise back into a winner after years of mediocrity. Shooting guard Zach LaVine (game-high 30 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks) is the new Devin Booker: a guy putting up huge but empty numbers on a doormat team. My favorite Finnish basketball player (who knew that was a thing?) Lauri Markkanen scored 18 points and had six rebounds but Chicago's other three starters combined for seven total points. Not great! Power forward Thaddeus Young (16 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) barely missed out on a triple-double and small forward Otto Porter Jr. (13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) also had a positive impact off the bench for the Bulls. 

    The Celtics displayed no obvious signs of fatigue by jumping ahead 33-25 after the first quarter and never looking back. They were up 60-50 at halftime and 91-76 going into the fourth quarter. Boston mixed a good shooting night from the field (50.6%-46.6%) with an aggressiveness that we'd love to see from them a bit more often. They attempted twice as many free throws as the Bulls (20-10) and hit four times as many (16-4) which when you think about it is a very rare feat in today's crooked NBA. The C's have been noticeably solid lately on defensive rebounds (38-32) and they had five more steals (9-4) and six less turnovers (18-12) which propelled them to 16 more points off turnovers (35-19) than hapless Chicago. 

The two-game road trip should get at least a little more interesting on Wednesday (8:30, NBC Sports Boston) as the Celts pay their only visit of the season to the Spurs (9-8) at the AT&T Center. If Kemba plays against San Antonio-which I fully expect that he will-we could finally get our first glimpse of this Celtics team at full speed with their entire roster healthy and on the court together in this campaign. Boston's first meeting with the Lakers (14-4) happens on Saturday night (8:30, ABC) at TD Garden. I mention that so you won't be shocked if the C's are caught looking ahead a bit.