Celtics use huge fourth quarter to roar past Warriors in NBA finals

The Warriors were determined to limit Jayson Tatum's impact as a scorer. They did. Tatum finished with 12 points on 3/17 shooting.

Jaylen Brown fueled the late charge and scored 24 points, Al Horford hit six three-pointers and the Celtics rode the most lopsided fourth quarter in NBA finals history to a 120-108 victory over the Warriors in Game 1 on Thursday night.

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Horford finished with 26 points and the Celtics outscored the Warriors 40-16 in the final 12 minutes after trailing by 15 points late in the third quarter.

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The 15th-year big man, who turns 36 Friday, played in 141 previous postseason games, most ever before playing in the NBA Finals.

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Boston made their first seven tries from long distance in the fourth and wound up 9 of 12 beyond the arc in the period as almost everybody got involved in the three-point flurry.

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Curry scored 34 points in his return to the NBA’s big stage for the first time in three years, but the Warriors couldn’t sustain momentum from a 38-point third quarter that put them ahead 92-80 going into the final 12 minutes.

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Derrick White’s three-pointer over Curry with 5:40 remaining tied the game at 103, then Horford hit from deep the next time down as the Celtics took their first lead since halftime.

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Brown, who starred at nearby California for one college season, made consecutive baskets that tied the game at 47 with 5:03 left before halftime and the Celtics led 56-54 at the break.

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Now the hard work starts for a Warriors team that went a league-worst 15-50 during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season two years ago and lost to Memphis in the play-in game last year before eliminating the Grizzlies in the first round this season.

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