Game 5 of the NBA Finals pits the Golden State Warriors against the Boston Celtics. Highlights: After a 12-point comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics have snatched home-field advantage from the Golden State Warriors.
It’s tough to envision a more remarkable start than that, and it’s even harder to believe the Warriors won’t go back to the drawing board and enter Game 2 on Sunday with a chip on their shoulder. After today’s back-and-forth battle between these two squads, it’s clear that this isn’t going to be a sweep.
The teams had met in the playoffs four times before, the first three times in the Eastern Conference finals before the Warriors relocated from Philadelphia.
The Celtics won all four meetings, including the second and fourth seasons of their eight-year championship run in 1960 and 1962.
This is Steve Kerr’s Warriors’ sixth Finals appearance in eight seasons, and the dynasty is vying for their fourth Larry O’Brien trophy, an achievement that might seal the Warriors’ place among the all-time greats.
On the opposite end of the court, the Celtics are managed by first-year head coach Ime Ukoda, who has done an outstanding job of transforming the franchise into one of the league’s finest defensive teams after a tough start to the season.
Despite Jayson Tatum’s shooting woes, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford combined to score 21 of Boston’s 40 points in the fourth quarter, allowing the Celtics to take control late in the game (12 points, 3-of-17 from the field).
Horford told ESPN’s Lisa Salters, “I believe the group who started the fourth quarter did a wonderful job setting the tone.” “Jaylen was attacking, Rob [Williams III] had a lob dunk, and that was about it. We felt like we were going to stay strong and fight from then on, and that’s exactly what we did.”
In the loss, Golden State’s Stephen Curry scored a game-high 34 points. He scored 21 points in the first quarter, but Boston’s defense tightened up in the last 36 minutes.
On Thursday, The Sporting News provided live scoring updates and highlights from the Warriors’ game against the Celtics. The complete results from Game 1 of the NBA Finals can be found here.
Warriors vs. Celtics score
| Game 1 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
| Warriors | 32 | 22 | 38 | 16 | 108 |
| Celtics | 28 | 28 | 24 | 40 | 120 |
