5 takeaways as Al Horford and the Celtics storm back against the Warriors in Game 1

Celtics Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics dribbles against Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Here are the takeaways as the Celtics pulled away from the Warriors in a dizzying flurry, claiming Game 1 of the NBA Finals 120-108.

1. The Celtics stunned the Warriors with a monstrous fourth quarter. After losing the third 38-24 and falling behind by double digits, they annihilated the Warriors 40-16 in the final period. The defense ratcheted up to previously unseen levels, and they buried open 3-point looks against a Warriors defense that suddenly seemed overmatched.

Jayson Tatum struggled throughout Game 1 — just 3-for-17 from the field — but he dished out 13 assists, and his teammates made up the difference late. Jaylen Brown scored 24 crucial points, including a big run in the fourth that helped keep the team attached, and the Celtics showed their depth and offensive versatility. “Anybody But Tatum” as a defensive strategy clearly won’t cut it for the Warriors.

Stealing a win in Golden State on one of Tatum’s brutally cold shooting nights was deeply impressive and potentially crucial.

2. Tatum had a confusing evening from the field. The Warriors didn’t even appear to defend him particularly well — almost all of his misses were shots he normally makes at a high clip, whether he was taking open perimeter jumpers or driving against smaller guards like Curry or Jordan Poole. Interestingly, he was 1-for-5 from three, but the reason he took so few 3-pointers was because he stepped on the line on three of his attempts. That might suggest something odd was happening with his footwork, because he never looked comfortable as a shooter.

Tatum seemed affronted when a reporter asked him how he came away feeling after shooting 3-for-17 in Game 1.

“Ecstatic, right?” he said. “40 points in the fourth quarter? J.B. played big. Al, Payton, D-White. Those guys made big shots, timely shots as well. And we won, right? I had a bad shooting night. I just tried to impact the game in other ways.”

“I don’t expect to shoot that bad again,” Tatum added. “But if it means we keep winning, I’ll take it.”

3. Al Horford made his Finals debut and put together as good of a performance as you could possibly ask in his first contest — 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting, with six 3-pointers — the most-ever in a Finals debut, per ABC. In the fourth, when the Celtics put together their closing run, Horford was spectacular on both ends as the Celtics went to a one-big lineup and spaced the floor with Horford cashing in triples and mid-range jumpers.

“Don’t nobody deserve to be here more than him,” Marcus Smart said after the game. “The way that he carries himself professionally, the professionalism he comes to this game with every day, we knew it was only a matter of time for him to have a big game, and continue to have a big game.”

Draymond Green suggested the Celtics won’t continue to shoot that well from deep after they went 9-for-12 in the fourth quarter. That might be true, but Horford is shooting 46.3 percent from 3-point range during the postseason, and his looks on Thursday were squeaky clean.

4. Smart spent a lengthy stretch in the fourth quarter on the bench as a lineup that included Derrick White and Payton Pritchard helped the Celtics pull away. When he returned, the game had already shifted drastically.

When he spoke postgame, Smart went to the podium with White. The two laughed and joked quietly together before reporters began asking questions, and Smart could be heard saying “My guy Derrick White” as he stood up to leave.

“Credit to Marcus, the Defensive Player of the Year, on the bench, while Payton, Derrick and other guys are stepping up on both ends, and we can bring him in to close it,” Ime Udoka said. “Like I said, we rely on the team offensively.”

5. The difference between having Robert Williams on the floor and Daniel Theis is enormous, even when Williams isn’t 100 percent. Theis is an admirable player, but the Warriors thrive against big men who struggle against elite pick-and-roll scorers. Both Williams and Theis are a little shaky and prefer to drop back as on-ball defenders go over the screen, but Williams can recover some of that distance with his length and athleticism.

Still, Williams closed the game on the bench after the Celtics were decimated on the offensive glass by Kevon Looney (six offensive rebounds). It will be interesting to see how often the Celtics downsize in this series, because Williams’ shot-blocking was a major factor — he finished with four, including three at the rim and one closing out to a Curry 3-pointer.

6. Derrick White was fantastic — 21 points, including 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. He has been much better from deep since the series against the Heat, which is a big boost for the Celtics. Part of the reason they acquired him at the trade deadline was because they felt he could shoot better with more space, and playing next to Tatum and Brown opens up the floor significantly.

White, who spent his entire career prior to Boston with the Spurs, has spoken about joining a new team midseason and trying to fit in.

“First thing Derrick said was, ‘My name is Derrick.’ And that’s it when I first met him,” Smart said chuckling.

Horford sounded appalled when a reporter noted that White said he felt like he had to tiptoe when he first joined the organization.

“We love Derrick,” Horford said. “What he’s brought to our group, just his energy, his commitment to working hard. He continues to work no matter how is it going for him individually. He continues to prepare.

“We have a lot of confidence in him. Thank you for telling me that. I’ll make sure I address it. It’s something that he just needs to go out there and play. We have the most confidence in him.”

“He’s quiet, but if you get close enough to him, he’ll warm up to you,” Jaylen Brown added. “He’ll take some jokes, some dad jokes and stuff like that. Derrick is a great guy. He fit right in as soon as he got to Boston, and it was just like automatic. We’re lucky to have him.”

7. Steph Curry went wild in the first quarter with 21 points against a Celtics defense that seemed a little confused and unprepared for his unique barrage of scoring. Defenders played Curry far too deep in the pick-and-roll, and they even lost him entirely on a couple of possessions.

Curry finished the evening with 34 points on 12-for-25 shooting — a good performance, but not earth-shattering. As the game wore on, the Celtics seemed much more confident in their schemes — Horford jumped up on screens to defend him better, Smart navigated his screens expertly, and even Payton Pritchard stayed attached nicely in the fourth quarter. In addition, the one-big lineup limited the number of times Curry found himself with a favorable mismatch.

8. Jordan Poole was a nice story this season. He’s a player who rose up in Golden State’s system and thrived in several games already this postseason, but he had a rough Finals debut on Thursday. The Celtics targeted him some defensively, and he can expect a lot more of it on nights when Tatum plays well, but they also beat him up defensively — he finished 2-for-7 from the field with four turnovers, three of which were directly caused by the Celtics’ aggressive on-ball defense.

Stopping Poole is a big deal for the Celtics because he is one of just two Warriors scorers who can really break opponents down off the dribble (Curry, of course, is the other). If Poole can’t shake free against the Celtics’ defense, it removes an important dimension from the Warriors’ vaunted offense. That’s one area where the Celtics are quietly loaded — Smart, Brown, Tatum, White, Pritchard and even Horford can run the offense at times, while Grant Williams can attack closeouts.

9. The Celtics tried Robert Williams on Wiggins, which was a bit of a talking point before the series. Williams struggled immensely in the first quarter — Wiggins got several open looks and back-cut Williams three times for layups and floaters. That look is a little cute but might not work out.

10. And finally, we’ll close with Jaylen Brown, who Kanye West reportedly believes is “underappreciated.” Ye might have a point — as good as Horford was, and as impactful as Tatum’s 13 assists were, Brown was the player who sparked the Celtics’ big fourth-quarter run. He hit Green with a nasty step-back jumper to start the period, buried a triple over Poole, hit another over Otto Porter, then drove past Klay Thompson for a tough layup that closed the gap to three. Then the rest of the team caught fire, and the game was decided.

For three quarters, Tatum and Brown combined to shoot 9-for-31. All the Celtics really needed on a night when their role players were huge was one of their stars to step up. Brown’s flurry in the fourth quarter was an indispensable — and perhaps understated — piece of the win.

“We’re battle-tested,” Brown said. “We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been through a lot of experiences, a lot of losses. We know what it takes to win. I give credit to every guy in that locker room from top to bottom. We got a great, resilient group.

“The chain is only as strong at its weakest link. … It’s an all-around collective effort every single night and everybody did their job.”

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