• Complete coverage: 2022 NBA Finals

After trailing by 15 points late in the third quarter, the Boston Celtics came roaring back, outscoring the Warriors 40-16 in the fourth quarter and stealing Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals in San Francisco 120-108. With the win, the Celtics are now 8-2 on the road in this year’s playoffs – just one road win shy of the most in a single postseason – while delivering the Warriors their first playoff loss at Chase Center.

Let’s take a deep dive into all aspects of the box score:

Traditional

• The game ultimately hinged on a 30-point swing; both teams led by as many as 15 points. There were nine lead changes and five ties, with the Celtics going on the longest scoring run – 17-0 from 6:05 to 1:44 remaining in the fourth quarter – as they took the lead and pulled away down the stretch.

Both teams led Game 1 by as many as 15 points.

• Al Horford (11 points, 4-4 FGs, 2-2 3PM) and Jaylen Brown (10 points, 4-6 FGs, 2-3 3PM) combined for 21 of Boston’s 40 fourth-quarter points. Brown entered the game as the 2022 playoff leader in fourth-quarter points and added to that lead on Thursday. He has scored 130 fourth-quarter points — Curry is second with 117, Tatum third at 114 — on 45-for-72 shooting (62.5%) from the field and 20-for-30 (66.7%) from range.

• Horford played in 141 playoff games before reaching the NBA Finals (the most in NBA history) and he made the most of his first game on the Finals stage. Horford finished with a team-high 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 from 3-point range. Horford has played 950 regular-season games and 142 playoff games in his career. Thursday night was the first time he’s ever made six 3-pointers in any of those 1,092 games.

• Stephen Curry scored the first basket of the 2022 NBA Finals with a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Kevon Looney (more on second-chance points later). That marked the first of his Finals record six 3-pointers in the opening quarter, breaking a record that Curry previously shared with Ray Allen and Kenny Smith.

Stephen Curry was on fire in the first quarter, making a Finals record six 3-pointers.

• Curry finished the first quarter with 21 points on 7-for-9 (77.8%) shooting from the field and 6-for-8 (75%) from 3-point range. However, the hot start was not sustainable; he scored 13 more points over the final three quarters on 5-for-16 (31.3%) shooting from the field, including 1-for-6 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. Curry posted a game-high 34 points, good for a tie with his fifth-highest scoring performance in the NBA Finals.

• The Celtics won Game 1 despite Jayson Tatum having one of the worst shooting performances of his career; he finished with 12 points on 3-for-17 shooting from the field, including 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Tatum’s 17.6% shooting becomes his lowest mark in any playoff game in which he attempted at least 10 shots. While Tatum was ice cold, the rest of the Celtics combined to shoot 40-for-68 (58.8%) from the field in Game 1.

While Jayson Tatum (left chart) shot 3-for-17 (17.6%) in Game 1, his teammates (right chart) combined to shoot 40-68 (58.8%).

• Boston made 21 3-pointers in Game 2 – their second-highest total in any playoff game and the most ever in a Finals game. While Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to shoot just 3-for-13 (23.1%) from deep, the rest of the Celtics shot 18-for-28 (64.3%), including the aforementioned team-high six from Horford. Derrick White added five and Marcus Smart added four; those three players combined for 15 of Boston’s 21 triples.

• White posted a game-high plus-25 plus/minus in 32 minutes played off the bench in Game 1

• Boston’s 33 assists were their highest of any game in this year’s playoffs; they had seven games with 33 assists or more during the regular season. Combined, the Celtics are 7-1 when dishing 33+ assists.

• While Tatum was unable to knock down a shot, he was able to create scoring opportunities for his teammates as he dished out a career-high — regular season or playoffs — 13 assists in Game 1. Tatum’s 13 dimes were the most by a player making their Finals debut, surpassing the dozen dropped by John Stockton, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas – not bad company to join.

Jayson Tatum’s 13 assists in Game 1 mark a new NBA record for most assists in an NBA Finals debut! #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/krYVftiyiO

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 3, 2022

Advanced

• Both teams had eight players play at least 10 minutes in Game 1. For the Celtics, five of those players finished with an effective field goal percentage above 75%: Al Horford (100%), Robert Williams III (100%), Payton Pritchard (100%), Marcus Smart (81.8%) and Derrick White (77.3%). For the Warriors, they had two players finish above 75% and both came off the bench: Otto Porter Jr. (120%) and Andre Iguodala (87.5%).

• Jayson Tatum led all players in assist percentage, dishing out 37.1% of Boston’s field goals while he was on the court. Tatum also had the best assist-to-turnover ratio at 6.5, only turning the ball over twice against those 13 assists.

• Derrick White finished with a net rating of 44.3 as the Celtics posted a 144.3 offensive rating and 100.0 defensive rating in his 32 minutes on the court. White’s 44.3 rating was the highest of any player that played at least 20 minutes, with Jaylen Brown second at 27.3.

• Kevon Looney led all players in offensive rebounding percentage (20%) as he collected half of Golden State’s 12 offensive rebounds.

• Jordan Poole was the only player to play more than a minute and post an offensive efficiency below 100. A 92.3 rating marked his third-lowest showing of the postseason.

Miscellaneous

• Boston finished with a 34-26 edge in points in the paint as Jaylen Brown and Andrew Wiggins led their respective teams with 10 each.

• Boston finished with a decisive 21-10 edge in points off turnovers, taking advantage of Golden State’s 14 miscues in Game 1.

• Golden State finished with a 26-15 advantage in second-chance points, as the Warriors dominated the glass early in the game. Midway through the third quarter, the Warriors led 19-5 in second-chance points – thanks in large part to Kevon Looney’s six offensive rebounds – before Boston closed the gap during that pivotal fourth-quarter comeback.

• Jayson Tatum scored a game-high five fast break points. Nearly half of his total points (12) came in transition as he struggled to score in the halfcourt all night.

Scoring

Only two of Stephen Curry’s seven 3-pointers came off an assist.

• Entering the Finals, the Warriors (66.9%) and Celtics (65.5%) ranked first and second in the playoffs in percentage of assisted field goals. In Game 1, Boston assisted 76.7% of its baskets (their second-highest mark of any game this postseason) while Golden State assisted 61.5% of its baskets (their sixth-lowest mark of any game this postseason).

• Only two of Stephen Curry’s seven 3-pointers were assisted (28.6%), the second-lowest assist rate Curry has had on his 3-pointers this postseason.

Usage

• Stephen Curry (33.3%) and Jaylen Brown (32.7%) led their respective teams in usage rate.

• Curry scored 39.1% of Golden State’s points while he was on the court, surpassing his 33.3% usage rate.

• Al Horford led the Celtics by scoring 32.5% of Boston’s points while he was on the court, and he did so with the fourth-lowest usage rate on the team at just 20.3%.

Four Factors

• With a total of just 31 free throws attempted by both teams (for reference, just five ahead of the 1997 record-low for a Finals game), both teams finished with low free throw rates in Game 1: 0.188 for Boston and 0.170 for Golden State – the third-lowest mark of the postseason for each teams.

• Boston finished with a 62.9 team effective field goal percentage – just 0.2 percentage points behind their highest mark of the playoffs, from Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against Miami. Between the regular season and playoffs, the Celtics are 20-2 when posting an eFG% over 60%.

• The Warriors lost for just the second time this postseason while turning the ball over fewer than 17 times. Golden State’s 14.9 turnover rate was their seventh-best mark of the playoffs.

• The Warriors had the edge in offensive rebound rate (+5.1%) and second-chance points (26-15), but Boston was able to overcome those advantages.

Player Tracking

• The disparity between contested and uncontested shots in Game 1 shows a clear advantage for the Celtics. Boston contested 37 of Golden State’s 88 field goal attempts (42%), while the Warriors contested only 21 of Boston’s 85 field goal attempts (24.7%).

• Not only did the Celtics get more uncontested shot attempts (64 to 49, for Golden State), but they also took advantage of those open looks by shooting a higher percentage when left open (51.6 FG% to 44.9%, for Golden State).

• Al Horford led the Celtics with 26 points … and none of his 12 field goal attempts were contested by the Warriors as he shot 9-for-12.

• Draymond Green (0-for-7) and Jordan Poole (1-for-4) combined to shoot 1-for-11 on uncontested looks for the Warriors. Stephen Curry’s 12 field goals made were split evenly between contested (6-for-12) and uncontested (6-for-13). Otto Porter Jr. (4-for-5) and Andre Iguodala (2-for-2) combined to shoot 6-for-7 on uncontested shots.

• Jayson Tatum and Klay Thompson not only led their respective teams in minutes played, but also in distance traveled, as both covered over 2.8 miles while on the court.

Hustle

• The Warriors finished with a 27-20 advantage in deflections, with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all tying for a game-high six deflections apiece. Two-time Hustle Award winner Marcus Smart led the Celtics with four.

• The Celtics finished with a 7-4 edge in loose balls recovered, with Jaylen Brown leading all players with three.

• Kevon Looney led all players with seven box outs (including five on offense as he collected six offensive boards) and four screen assists (which produced 10 Warriors points).

Defense

• We mentioned Jayson Tatum making up for an off shooting with his playmaking on offense, but he also held his defensive matchups to 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field and 2-for-7 from 3-point range.

• Al Horford defended the most shots of any player on the Celtics (18) and held his matchups to 38.9% shooting, but did allow four 3-pointers. Derrick White held his matchups to 5-for- 14 (35.7%) shooting.

• Jaylen Brown logged the second-most defensive matchup time on the Celtics (15:44), but allowed just six field-goal attempts – the seventh-fewest on the team. Brown’s matchups scored just four points and shot 2-for-6 from the field and missed both 3-point attempts.

• Stephen Curry finished with a game-high three steals while holding his matchups to 6-for-14 (42.9%) shooting.

• Kevon Looney allowed just nine points on 4-for-12 (33.3%) shooting, including 1-for-4 (25%) from 3-point range, as the Celtics looked to attack him on switches. Otto Porter Jr. held his matchups to 1-for-6 shooting, but they dished out six assists against him.

Matchups

Jayson Tatum was primarily defended by Andrew Wiggins in Game 1.

• Andrew Wiggins was the primary defender on Jayson Tatum for a team-high (43.3% of Tatum’s offensive matchup time). The Warriors had four other players defend Tatum for at least two minutes of matchup time – Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole and Draymond Green – as they gave him multiple looks and switched frequently.

• Marcus Smart defended Stephen Curry for a team-high 5:23 (36.2% of Curry’s offensive matchup time) and allowed eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range, during Curry’s blazing hot first quarter against Boston’s drop defense in the pick-and-roll.

• Derrick White had more success against Curry as he held him to five points on 2-for-6 shooting (1-for-1 from 3-point range) in 3:42 of matchup time. Curry attempted more shots against Robert Williams III (7) than any other Celtics in just 1:24 of matchup time; Curry shot 3-for-7, including 1-for-3 from deep, as he scored seven points against Williams.

• Draymond Green defended Al Horford for a team-high 6:27 (47.1% of Horford’s offensive matchup time) and allowed nine points on 3-for-4 shooting (including 2-for-3 from 3-point range). As mentioned earlier, none of Horford’s field goal attempts in Game 1 were contested as Green was often playing like a free safety in the Warriors’ defensive scheme, which can lead to open looks.

• Klay Thompson defended Jaylen Brown for 10:09 (64.1% of Brown’s offensive matchup time) in Game 1 and allowed just six points on 3-for-5 shooting (0-for-2 from 3-point range) in those minutes. However, Brown was able to hold Thompson without a point or a shot attempt in 8:30 of matchup time.

• The two Celtics that spent the most time defending Andrew Wiggins were Robert Williams II (2:59 of matchup time) and Al Horford (2:31). The two bigs combined to allow just six points on 3-for-7 shooting, including 0-for-3 from 3-point range.