The opening game of the NBA Finals, best of seven if necessary, began with the script planned in advance. Curry's triple, for the Warriors, and Tatum tied at three, for the Celtics.
He ended up, however, crowning a Boston secondary, Al Horford, turned star with his personal best of 3-pointers, six, and a total of 26 points. Stephen Curry's 34 were useless for those from San Francisco Bay, the locals, to stop the hurricane of the visitors in the last quarter (40-16), which left the final result in victory for the Boston team by 120 to 108.
This means that the Celtics thus recover the field advantage that the Warriors had, who only scored 16 points in the last quarter, one of the worst records in memory and more so in a final, after squandering the twelve point advantage that they had at the end of the third quarter (92-80).
The game left notes for the little story. In the first half, the two teams combined made 20 three-pointers, unmatched in an NBA Finals. The rhythm was maintained and in the end there were 40, a record. Those from Boston scored nine in the last twelve minutes.
This is a repeat of the 1964 final. Then, the legendary Bill Russell's Celtics finished off the Warriors in five games.
The Warriors and the Boston Celtics kicked off a series on the West Coast that has special meaning for Joe Lacob, majority owner of the California Warriors. But he has a past.
It was June 2008 and Lacob was sitting at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where his usual team, the Celtics, won the fourth game of the final against the Lakers after coming back 24 points. The businessman, who grew up in New Bedford (Massachusetts), was hoarse giving encouragement to Bostonians. The Celtics won the ring (4-2). Today they are tied for 17 trophies with the Angelenos and seek to stay alone in 2022.
Now, absent from a final since 2010, when they lost to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, they are looking to make history. Opposite them are a Warriors who have belied the anticipated obituaries by playing their sixth Finals in eight years, overcoming a span of a couple of bad seasons. They can win the eighth crown, break the tie with the Chicago Bulls and be third on the winners list.
Two years after that triumphant moment in 2008, Lacob paid $450 million and became the primary owner of the Warriors. This Thursday night he was seen encouraging his own, who are no longer what they were. They say that he did not harbor even the slightest affect towards his favorite childhood team, when he listened to Rusell's exploits on the radio.
This time he was able to enjoy a match start in which Stephen Curry dictated the law of the afterlife. He made six triples in the first twelve minutes, a record in a quarter, and scored 21 points, another unique record in the opening period of a final.
After the recital Steve Kerr gave him a break. There was a mirage. The Warriors built a maximum lead of ten points, but it quickly evaporated. It was less than seven minutes from halftime when Curry returned. He had lost the magic: not a point and three personal.
The break came with the visitors leading 56-54 and the feeling that they are a rocky team, perhaps too strong for the fine local stylists. Those from Boston, to which the defense adjusted, managed to control the rival and that their top star, Jason Tatum, went to the locker room with only eight points (in the end he only got 12).
As if the world were turned upside down, the return to the track marked a totally different panorama. Fueled by 3-pointers from Andrew Wiggins and Curry, with input from Otto Porter jr. and Kevon Looney's defense and the Warriors rallied. Their difference was escalating.
With two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the locals achieved their maximum advantage, fifteen points, with the score 72-87. The break was reached with a partial of 80-92.
And the fourth period began as a replica of the second. Kerr, in another coaching attack, left Curry out: two minutes and nine to zero for the Bostonians to adjust the score to five points behind. The Warriors' 30th return to the court stopped the bleeding, but it didn't stop it.
The romp on the scoreboard, after an impressive run by Derrick White (21 points) and Jaylen Brown (24 points), was achieved by Al Horford, with two consecutive triples and a shot of two, which put the score at 103-111 to lack of 3.23.
It was the maximum visitor advantage on the night, at the decisive moment. They rose to 11 points and more, while at home it seemed that nobody wanted to shoot. In the end 120-108 and great success for the Bostonians, who drowned out the shouts of MVP that their audience dedicated to Curry in the minutes that were not decisive.
Al Horford blew a kiss at the camera. He was the best of the match. Entrepreneur Joe Lacob always has the consolation of putting himself in the shoes of the boy he was and enjoying himself in silence. Or wait for something better in the second meeting.
