The Golden State Warriors allowed a massive Boston Celtics fourth-quarter comeback in Game 1.
It spoiled the Chase Center’s first NBA Finals game. The Dubs took a 12-point lead into the final period after outscoring Boston by 14 points in the third quarter, having taken a two-point deficit into halftime.
The Golden State Warriors will take the court for Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals on Sunday, and it’s a game that they must either win or attempt to make history.
Boston beat the Warriors by 24 in the fourth quarter, 40-16, and the Warriors went over five minutes in the quarter without scoring.
It was a brutal stretch of play for Golden State as it just couldn’t get anything going offensively and miserably failed to slow down the dynamic Boston shooting.
The Celtics were 9-for-12 from deep in the final quarter. It was a wild last 12 minutes, and while they may not be able to repeat it, history will be on their side if they’re able to get it done on Sunday.
“No team has ever won the NBA Finals after losing the first two games at home, per Sportradar. Five different teams have come back to win the Finals after facing a two-games-to-none deficit, but all five were the visitors for the opening pair of tilts,” NBC Sports’ Tom Dierberger wrote.
The Warriors will get Game 2 at the Chase Center, and per the note from Sportradar, it’s crucial they win the game, or the only other option for them to come out on top will have them also making history en route to that massive comeback.
Golden State has several edges, and one of those was expected to be three-point shooting. However, they were beaten at their own game on Thursday, and now they’ll have to find a way to space out Boston and cash in from deep.
The Warriors defensively must be better as well.
Allowing Al Horford and Derrick White to kill you from deep is unacceptable, especially when Jayson Tatum shoots 3-for-17 from the field. The latter may not happen again, so the Warriors must ensure they aren’t killed by both on Sunday.
Head coach Steve Kerr will have some chips up his sleeve and make the necessary adjustments, which could include going small to match the Celtics or adding a rookie like Jonathan Kuminga to the rotation.