Celtics on 1-0 lead in NBA finals, rampant against Warriors in 4th quarter

Boston Celtics beat Golden State Warriors 120-108 in San Francisco, outscore Warriors 40-16 in 4th period

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The Boston Celtics beat the Golden State Warriors 120-108 with a commanding fourth quarter play in the 2022 NBA Finals Game 1 on Thursday.

The Celtics, who were the visitors at San Francisco's Chase Center, scored 40 points in the fourth quarter to take the first win in this year's final series.

Meanwhile, the Warriors racked up 16 points in the final 12 minutes of the clash.

The Celtics were trailing by 15 points in the third quarter. The Warriors were leading the game by 87-72 after their small forward Andrew Wiggins scored from the free-throw line with two minutes and 10 seconds remaining.

Celtics center Al Horford hit a career-high six three points to score 26 points, one of the key players for the victory.

Jaylen Brown scored 24 points and took seven rebounds for the Celtics. Derrick White racked up 21 points to contribute to the win.

Marcus Smart, another Celtics guard, tallied 18 points against the Warriors.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 assists.

Meanwhile, Warriors superstar Stephen Curry was the game's top scorer as the 34-year-old scored 34 points.

He made five assists and had three steals as well.

Meanwhile, Curry hit six three-pointers in the first quarter as it was the most three-pointers in a single quarter of the NBA Finals.

In addition, he scored 21 of his 34 points in the first quarter of the match.

For a player, it was the highest scoring in a quarter in an NBA Finals game since 1993 as Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan scored 22 points against the Phoenix Suns in a single quarter.

Wiggins scored 20 points for the Warriors in Game 1, and his teammate Klay Thompson, a US shooting guard, added 15 points.

The Celtics will stay in San Francisco as Game 2 will be held at Chase Center on Sunday.

Next week the Warriors will visit the Celtics for Games 3 and 4.

The Finals are played in a best-of-seven format, meaning four wins will be enough to win the title.

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