With All-NBA stud Jayson Tatum and playmaking partner Jaylen Brown, the Celtics can match star power with plenty of NBA teams.
But Boston would not be in the NBA Finals without such key complementary contributors as an aging Al Horford or midseason trade addition Derrick White.
Celtics take Game 1 with dominant fourth quarter
So it was appropriate that on a night when Tatum might have missed the water if he jumped off the nearby Golden Gate Bridge, Boston came back and then pulled away from the home Warriors in a 120-108 Game 1 victory that included massive contributions from Horford and White.
The mostly homegrown Celtics are far from an NBA Super Team like past champions, but Thursday night by the Bay Boston proved it is indeed a super team very much worthy of competing for a title.
With Tatum scoring just 12 points on an ugly 3-of-17 shooting, Horford had a game-high 26 points including a career-best six three-pointers. White came off the bench with 21 points, continuing his hot hand that arrived midway through the Eastern Conference Finals after the birth of his son, leading to 21 points including going 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
A game that looked like it was getting away from the visitors who trailed by 14 in the final seconds of the third quarter transformed into one in which Ime Udoka’s scrappy squad snagged home court advantage from Golden State by taking the 1-0 series lead.
“We pride ourselves on everybody being able to contribute on both ends,” Udoka told reporters afterwards. “That’s rewarding, especially on a night when your best guy has an off night, others step up.”
Even in his woeful performance shooting the ball, Tatum was still a significant positive factor in the win with a game-best 13 assists, eight more than anyone else on the court.
As they’ve done all season, the Celtics found a way to win. As they’ve done all season postseason, they found guys to make winning plays when it matter most. Boston proved yet again that starring roles can be filled by role players, not just stars.
While the Warriors built an early lead thanks to their superstar Hall of Famer Steph Curry putting up 21 points in the first quarter, Boston spread the load. Three Celtics finished with 21 or more points (Horford, White and Brown’s 24) while only Curry’s 34 passed the plateau for the home team.
It certainly helped that Boston got scorching hot from the three-point line, especially late in the game by guys not named Tatum or Brown. Thanks to Horford, White and Marcus Smart (18 points, 4-of-7 on threes), Boston hit 9-of-12 threes in the fourth quarter, including its first seven in a row to turn a daunting deficit into a road upset.
That was key in getting Boston by yet another dismal third quarter that allowed Golden State to build its lead that seemed impressive to the Chase Center crowd in the moment. The Celtics had five turnovers in the third. But then came roaring back.
“It wasn’t time to hang your head or be done, it was time to figure it out,” Tatum said of the midpoint of the second half, with things looking a bit dicey.
“Being resilient has been the word for this year,” Payton Pritchard said, after seeing significant action down the stretch with NBA Defensive Player of the Year Smart on the bench. “I think it showed tonight.”
Resiliency isn’t about one guy. Or one side of the ball. It’s about team basketball on both ends of the floor. It’s about who these Celtics have become under Udoka’s tutelage.
“Just believe in what you’ve been doing all year,” Smart said.
Team basketball turned the Celtics fledgling season around this winter.
Team basketball led Boston to a run through a hellacious Easter Conference gauntlet – Horford, White and Grant Williams all getting various days in the postseason sun along the way.
Now true team basketball has Tatum’s team within three games of a championship, its brightest star unlikely to repeat his shooting woes in Game 2.
“I don’t expect to shoot that bad again,” Tatum said. “But if it means we keep winning, I’ll take it.”
Either way, the Celtics’ style of team basketball will be on full display with a championship within its sights.
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