The Warriors, who have featured in their sixth World Cup Finals in eight seasons, looked on course to win the first game on Thursday, but a major comeback in the fourth quarter saw the Celtics advance early in their best of seven streak with a 120-108 victory.
“It’s the first of four, not the first of one,” Warriors’ Klay Thompson said after the game.
“We’ve all been in situations like this. There’s no reason to panic. We still have our chances in mind, we’ll go home and make sense of what happened. I know we’ll be better in the second game.”
Boston now has a chance to take the lead in the series during Sunday’s game, which begins at 8 p.m. ET at Chase Center. Next, the teams compete in back-to-back matches in Boston.
The surprise win in the first game, the Celtics’ first appearance in the NBA Finals since 2010, included a 17-0 in the fourth quarter — the second-most scoring streak in a final quarterback in the last 50 seasons, according to ESPN.
Alhorford led the Celtics with 26 points, while Jaylene Brown added 24 points.
“It wasn’t our best game, but we kept fighting and finding different ways to get that win,” said Horford, who made 141 playoffs before making his World Cup debut on Thursday.
For the Warriors, the positive news is that they have yet to lose consecutive games this season in their quest to win their fourth championship with coach Steve Kerr.
“It’s a seven-game streak for a reason,” Kerr told reporters at Thursday’s post-match game. “You give Boston the credit, they came in and got the win, and they played a great fourth quarter.
“We’ll come and watch the movie… and see where we can improve. It’s one match, move on to the next… We’ve been in that position before and won the series where we lost the first match.”
In the United States, the finals are available to watch on ABC or ESPN3. Alternatively, in the US and around the world you can watch matches live on NBA League Pass.
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