Everything seemed to be rolling like clockwork for the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, but a total fourth quarter collapse cost them victory over the Boston Celtics, who prevailed 120-108 .
The crowd favorites led by 15 at one point in the third quarter, but the visitors quietly rallied and punctuated it all with an unanswered 17-point push to take the lead for good.
At 36, Al Horford was not laughing, he who after 15 seasons and 141 career playoff games, is in his first final. He led the visitors with 26 points. Jaylen Brown (24 points) and Derrick White (21) backed him up in that triumph, while Jayson Tatum had a double-double of 12 points and 13 assists.
On the Warriors side, nothing and no one was able to stop Stephen Curry at the start of the game. After one quarter, he had already made six shots from downtown and totaled 21 points. He lost his rhythm afterwards, however, and finished the game with 34 points. Canadian Andrew Wiggins did try to help his teammate, adding 20 points, but to no avail.
The Warriors will have an opportunity to level the odds in the series, again in front of their fans, on Sunday.
