After a long and eventful road to the N.B.A. finals, Golden State was grateful for a full week to rest and recover before facing the Boston Celtics in Game 1 on Thursday night.
Golden State’s modest break came to an abrupt end. Boston made sure of it, stunning Golden State, 120-108, to take the opening game of the best-of-seven series at Chase Center.
The Celtics leaned on their depth to erase a 15-point deficit in the second half. Al Horford scored a team-high 26 points, while Jaylen Brown added 24 and Derrick White scored 21 off the bench.
Jayson Tatum scored just 12 points in the win while shooting 3 of 17 from the field, but he had a game-high 13 assists. The Celtics also managed to overcome a turbocharged effort form Golden State’s Stephen Curry, who scored 34 points.
Golden State’s third-quarter runs can be demoralizing for opponents, but the Celtics have fought back in a big way in the fourth quarter. Boston outscored Golden State 23-11 to start the fourth quarter and tied the game at 103.
When Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks smacked Gary Payton II while Payton was midair, it broke the hearts of Payton’s teammates and coaches.
That play from Golden State’s Western Conference semifinal series was deemed a flagrant 2 foul and caused Payton to break his left elbow. There was some concern he would be out for the rest of the playoffs.
Payton is beloved in Golden State because of his winding path to finally finding an N.B.A. home at the age of 29. Coach Steve Kerr said Brooks’s foul “broke the code” by causing an injury that could end Payton’s season or, Kerr said, jeopardize his career.
Shades of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat for the Celtics here, when the Heat outscored the Celtics 39-14 in the third quarter, while the Celtics outplayed them for the rest of the game.
In this case, Golden State outscored Boston, 38-24. Boston was prone to long stretches of ineptitude during the regular season, which contributed to its underwhelming start to the season.