NBA Finals

The NBA Finals begin tonight, and the teams will be familiar even if some of the faces aren't. The Golden State Warriors played in every finals from 2015 to ...

Marcus Smart, who this season became the first guard to win Defensive Player of the Year since Gary Payton in 1996, will be tasked trying to contain Curry's near-infinite shooting range. The Boston Celtics haven't gotten this far for a dozen years, but are making their 22nd trip to the finals as a franchise. "They've won three elimination games, won seven games on the road — including last Sunday in Miami to clinch a spot in the finals," Goldman said.

In Game 1 of the N.B.A. finals, Golden State is raining 3-pointers as it tries to fend off a young Celtics team hungry for a trophy of its own.

Payton, who broke his elbow during the Western Conference semifinals, said he was “not quite there yet.” Iguodala initially did not sound optimistic about playing in the finals, saying that he was trying to “finish the season walking on two feet.” Smart said on Wednesday that it was a “pretty serious injury” and that he was “thankful to be able to play.” Van Gundy also said he wasn’t sure why he had been pulled from broadcasting Game 1, and that he hoped to be back for Game 2 Sunday in San Francisco. He had heeded his mother’s advice about playing college basketball for a Black coach, to learn leadership skills from someone who looked like him. He played for professional teams in Mexico, Australia, Spain, Finland and South Korea. He was a player development coach with the N.B.A.’s Denver Nuggets when Carmelo Anthony was there. It’s worth remembering, too, that this is the first N.B.A. finals game for Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the rest of the team here in San Francisco, following the franchise’s move across the bay for the start of the 2019-20 season. This is rather unusual for a finals game: Celtics Coach Ime Udoka has subbed in a lineup featuring four bench players to play with Jayson Tatum. And so far, the lineup has outscored Golden State by a point. Also, get this: The Celtics are shooting just 38.5 percent from the field. Jones won a preposterous 10 championships with the Celtics, and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1984. His six 3-pointers in the first quarter set an N.B.A. record for most 3s in a finals quarter, as well as most ulcers caused in the Boston fanbase. How? They’re shooting the ball well, they’re getting some nice offense from Marcus Smart, and Payton Pritchard and Daniel Theis have both come off the bench to hit 3-pointers. This was San Francisco.

Steph Curry, Bill Russell and Elgin Baylor are some of the basketball legends who hold individual NBA Finals records.

On top of that, Horry holds an NBA Finals record involving the number seven. Johnson also holds the second-highest mark for turnovers in a Finals game. Russell and Chamberlain have an overwhelming presence in the Finals rebounding records. Russell has two Finals games with 40 rebounds. Baylor is one of just seven players to ever score 50 or more points in a Finals game. The Lakers forward erupted for 61 points in Game 5 of the 1962 Finals against the Celtics. He played all 48 minutes, shot 22-for-46 overall and made 17 of 19 free throw attempts in a 126-121 win.

The Celtics rode the most lopsided fourth quarter in NBA finals history to a 120-108 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Curry scored a smooth 21 points in the opening period on 7-for-8 shooting, including 6 of 8 made threes – missing a half-court heave at the buzzer. “It’s an unbelievable feeling just to be here and competing at this level against such a dynamic franchise the last couple years,” Boston guard Payton Pritchard said. Brown’s 3 at 8:22 made it 94-92 before Klay Thompson answered with a three. “I was just getting the looks, knocking them down. The 15th-year big man, who turns 36 Friday, played in 141 previous postseason games, most ever before playing in the NBA Finals. “I felt like the guys kept finding me time after time.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors has brought out the stars.

Boston used the color in complementary fashion by adding a Finals emblem on its jerseys. The Warriors went all-out for refreshments at the Chase Center for Game 1. There were oyster bars and popcorn bars in some boxes. His teammate Jaylen Brown donned a leather coat with some graphic jeans. Stephen Curry kicked off the series' strong start in the first quarter. Hoopin Horford— Evan Turner (@thekidet) June 3, 2022 This is going to be a long series!! According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Golden State's 123 games of Finals experience to Boston's zero games was the largest gap since the Chicago Bulls (134) vs. Mahcus smaht— Evan Turner (@thekidet) June 3, 2022 the Utah Jazz (0) in 1997. Team ball is back!!! 40-16— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) June 3, 2022

Minute-by-minute report: The Celtics stole Game 1 of the NBA finals from the Warriors with a furious fourth-quarter comeback at the Chase Center.

He’s going to need to have one of his patented big fourth quarters for the Celtics to win this one. Brown then gets fouled by Wiggins and gets to the line with a chance to untie it. Wiggins ties it up but Curry picks up his third foul. White gets both free throws and that will wrap up a dominant third quarter for the Warriors. Miserable way to close out a miserable quarter for the Celtics: Pritchard puts Poole on the line for two free throws. Brown hits a layup to finally stop the Warriors run. The Celtics do a good job here at making the Warriors work… That’s a 7-0 Celtics run and that’s absolutely what they needed to do here. They’ve gone 9-for-11 from three in this quarter and that might seal a huge Game 1 road win here. After the timeout, the Warriors turn it over and Horford hits his second straight three. Horford makes the and one and the Celtics, who have a 15-point lead, take a timeout. We will be back on Sunday to cover Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Stick with the Guardian all throughout this series, no matter how many games it lasts, as the Golden State Warriors face off against the Boston Celtics for the 2022 NBA title.

The Boston Celtics came into San Francisco and stole Game 1 away from the Golden State Warriors. We break down the player ratings for the best performers on ...

But it did appear like Curry was forcing things a little too much — especially in the second half as he tried to recapture the fire of the first quarter. He did however, have 11 rebounds and five assists to go with his six points. He had 20 points (8-of-15 shooting) and five rebounds. But it was the Celtics' "others" who really stepped up big in the fourth quarter. Much was made of the Marcus Smart vs. Well, he absolutely balled out in Game 1 and was a key part of the Celtics' massive fourth quarter in which they outscored the Warriors 40-16.

Down 12 points after another strong third quarter from the Warriors, the Celtics' historic shooting fueled an unprecedented fourth-quarter comeback to steal ...

His 21 points in the opening frame were his most in any quarter in a Finals game, the most by any player in a Finals first quarter, and the fourth most overall in any Finals quarter -- only Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas have scored more. If Boston can pair a fraction of its offensive exhibition in Game 1 with its signature defense on three additional occasions, the Celtics will have an opportunity to consummate a steady nine-year rebuild following their legendary Big Three era. To illustrate the improbable nature of the performance, Horford's six 3-pointers represented the most in any game of his career, regular season or playoffs. In the first quarter alone, Curry, in search of his first Finals MVP, drained an NBA-record six 3-pointers, four of them uncontested. Coming into the Finals, Boston had attempted 45.5% of its field goals from 3-point range -- only the Dallas Mavericks attempted a higher percentage this postseason. Those stout defenses -- the NBA's two strongest -- couldn't do much to contain the offensive explosion set off at Chase Center in the first half.

Or will the Boston Celtics win title No. 18 and break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in NBA history? The first step toward the title will be ...

Boston is just one road win shy of tying the record of nine road wins in a single postseason set by the 1994-95 Houston Rockets. Can they get it on Sunday in Game 2? While Tatum is shooting 17.6%, the rest of the Celtics have combined to shoot 59.7% (37-for-62). The Boston Celtics scored 40 points in the 4th quarter tonight. Less than a minute later, Smart delivers the dagger 3 to put Boston up 117-103 with 1:43 to play. He makes both to give him 30 points on the night and puts the Warriors back up by double-digits (77-66). We’ve now seen a 15-point swing in the fourth quarter and there’s still 5:08 to play. It is the fifth time this postseason that the Warriors have scored at least 35 points in the third quarter. 9. It’s been another big third quarter for the Warriors so far — a theme for this year’s postseason. Curry shoots the 3-pointer after the whistle and it splashes (don’t waste them when they don’t count, Steph). Can the Warriors win their fourth title in eight years (and seventh in franchise history)? Or will the Boston Celtics win title No. 18 and break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in NBA history? Meanwhile, Curry has no points on 0-for-2 shooting so far in the second quarter and was just hit with back-to-back fouls in less than a minute. 15. Big response from the Celtics with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 47-47 with five minutes remaining in the half.

Every game of the NBA Finals is live on Sky Sports; watch Celtics @ Warriors – Game 2, live on Sky Sports Arena & Main Event, on Sunday night from 12.45am ...

Andrew Wiggins had 20 points and Klay Thompson had 15 for the Warriors, who completely lost their way in the fourth despite boasting much more experience than their opponents. They outscored the Celtics 38-24 in the third to turn a two-point half-time deficit into a 12-point lead. The Celtics' chief scoring option Jayson Tatum operated more as a facilitator, finishing with 12 points, 13 assists and just two turnovers but shot just 3-for-17 from the field. Curry exploded in the first frame in San Francisco for 21 points. They came in and earned the win." The Warriors have been noted for their third-quarter runs during their dynastic run and so it proved here.

Boston or Golden State? Our writers predict the winner, key players and dark horses before the championship tilt.

Look for them to score a big road win before the Warriors take control of the series. Warriors 4-2 Celtics. These Celtics could pull off the upset: while they had a rocky start to the season, struggling to maintain a .500 record while rookie head coach Ime Udoka adjusted to his new role, Boston ended up being the best team in the NBA since the start of 2022. It was a team that could have competed with any of the best NBA squads in history, including the 1997 Chicago Bulls or 2001 LA Lakers. However, this year’s Warriors team would probably win two games against the Cavs team that featured LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. ARS One of the few advantages the Cavs had over the 2015-18 Warriors was their superior athleticism. We get a repeat of the Al Horford Game. The Celtics needed an all-time game from 35-year-old big man Al Horford to win Game 4 of their epic series against the Milwaukee Bucks, where he scored 30 points on 11-for-14 shooting. Andrew Wiggins has arguably had the strangest career so far of any of the finals participants, going from the top pick in the 2014 NBA draft to the Rookie of the Year to borderline-bust with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Luckily for him, he rediscovered his shooting stroke with the Warriors and has saved some of his best basketball for the postseason. In a lot of ways, this series hinges on the efficacy of the Celtics defense and, by the transitive property, on the Time Lord, Robert Williams III. He’s maybe their most versatile defender, but he’s battling a knee injury and definitely didn’t look like himself in the Miami series. The Celtics can also increase their chances for victory if Al Horford and Robert Williams are able to dominate the paint. Several key players – mainly Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III – have been in and out of the lineup so much you’d think they were flipping a coin to decide if they were going to play on any given night. The Warriors will win if they lean on their playoff experience and overwhelm the youthful Celtics. Curry, Green and Thompson have played in 82 NBA finals games combined. Honestly, if the well-rested Warriors play their style of basketball, exploit Boston’s mental weaknesses (see below) and prevent Jayson Tatum from having a finals performance for the ages, the Warriors should win their fourth title of the century. If Golden State have proven one thing over the years, it’s that when they are healthy and play their style of basketball it’s hard enough to beat them in one game, let alone four.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A backbreaking barrage of 3-pointers that leaves the opponent cloaked in helplessness, searching for answers from a higher power.

From that point on, they went 26-7 with a net rating of plus-13.8, five points better than the closest challenger, and earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics know how to fight back because they've been fighting back all year long, and Udoka continued to preach resilience as the Warriors extended their lead in the third quarter. Defensively, the Celtics went to a lot more switching and pre-switching in the fourth quarter in order to limit Curry's shooting and the Warriors' penetration. Udoka said the small unit played also played with more physicality and "seemed to wear [the Warriors] down a little bit." They held Golden State to 6-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter, including 1-for-6 from 3-point range, before the benches were emptied in the final minute, and forced as many turnovers as the Warriors had assists. "Strength in Numbers" has been the Warriors' motto for years, but on Thursday it certainly applied to the Celtics. The attack was so widespread that the Warriors had nobody to key in on. The Celtics also used small-ball, a Golden State staple of years past, to dominate the fourth quarter on both ends. They moved the ball quickly, penetrating into the paint and kicking out to players in perfect position with even more perfect passes. Instead the Boston Celtics went on an unprecedented run in the fourth quarter, sparked by lights-out shooting and pinpoint ball-movement, to come away with a 120-108 Game 1 win in San Francisco, draining the life from what had been an electrically rabid sellout crowd. His 13 assists, however, epitomized a Celtics team -- bolstered by the messaging of head coach Ime Udoka -- committed to making the right play, no matter how simple, trusting that it would eventually yield positive results. A 38-point third quarter of that nature has been a knockout blow for many an unfortunate opponent over the last eight seasons of Warriors basketball. A scoring run that leaves you scouring the record books, unable to fathom that something this devastating has ever happened before.

Why Boston's relative inexperience might have been overrated, that overwhelming 4th-quarter run and more from the Celtics' theft of Finals homecourt.

And that’s what should concern the Warriors. Not only did they lose a game with Tatum misfiring (3-17 FGs), they must anticipate a strong Game 2 response. And even if that’s not necessarily true, it’s perhaps the right mindset to have to allow that motivation — or desperation — to instill a sense of urgency within an aging player. The usual roles were reversed and the outcome was delivered in a most unanticipated manner: The Celtics shot 51% from deep for the game and made seven 3s to start the fourth. Sure did, managing to throw the Finals and the Warriors for a loop. The way Horford sank timely 3s in the fourth quarter, applied traps defensively, and essentially showed the leadership the Celtics have valued since his return this season proved invaluable. After what he did against the Bucks and Heat in the previous rounds, a grand entrance in the Finals shouldn’t be much of a surprise. He was on pace to finally get a 40-piece in this postseason (he came six short, though). The Celtics arrived here with little rest, were on the road against a team previously unbeaten in this building in the playoffs, were down 12 to start the fourth quarter, staring at a percolating Stephen Curry, with Jayson Tatum unable to get buckets … and proceeded to punch the Warriors right in the mouth. Against the Warriors. Against Curry and Klay Thompson. This was a case of stolen identity. And usually it takes one stolen game to win a title. Did the Celtics actually out-small the Warriors and also out-shoot them from deep? What you saw was the searing response of a team that actually was experienced under bright lights.

'Absolutely awful' Warriors in 'serious trouble' as star takes rude swipe at rivals.

“But hey, the world is stunned, I’m stunned. “The Golden State Warriors had their hands on their hips in the first quarter, they looked gassed. “This is good for Boston because your best player didn’t play well, but the others step up and you win. The bench came in and gave a huge lift. I really thought Golden State had it because of their experience. But styles make fights, and the Golden State Warriors after one game still look they are in some serious trouble. I know you came to Golden State and won, but you’ve still got three more wins. “No, you won’t. Listen, Payton Pritchard played eight minutes in that fourth quarter, meaningful minutes. That’s what you should be focused on right now. 16. That ain’t just happen because they were missing shots. He understands what is takes, which is something he reminded folks of coming into this finals. We’ve got to take all of that into consideration.”

Just a couple of offseasons ago, the Philadelphia 76ers made several critical personnel moves, which caused quite a stir in the city of Brotherly Love.

In his first nine minutes on the floor coming out of the half, Horford dropped seven points, going 2-3 from beyond the arc. Horford was quiet for the first 17 minutes of the game as he scored just eight points off of five shots. In the first 12 minutes of action, Curry went 6-8 from three, scoring 21 points. The move was met with tons of criticism aimed towards the Celtics as one season in Philadelphia and OKC left many to believe Horford’s best days were well behind him. However, fitting Embiid and Horford together in the same starting lineup was a challenge for the 76ers. Last offseason, the Thunder moved Horford once again so he could make his return to Boston for a second stint.