“Celtics 24-point swing in Warriors loss is largest in NBA Finals history”: How Al Horford and Jaylen Brown led Steph Curry and company down a historic collapse in Game 1

The Boston Celtics had a 24 point swing between the 3rd and 4th quarter against the Warriors, making it the largest in NBA Finals history. 

The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are teams that have quite a bit in common. Both squads have had their key pieces acquired through the NBA Draft, both are the league’s top rated defenses this season, and neither team has been all too great in crunch time situations in 2021-22. 

Warriors proved that last point slightly too well in Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight as they had quite the historic collapse. Going into the 3rd quarter, Jaylen Brown and company held a 2 point lead and that’s when the 3Q Dubs erupted for their signature offensive avalanches that fueled their dynastic runs in the 2010s.

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The Celtics exited the 36th minute of play down by 12 points and it felt as though Steph Curry and the crew had everything on lock. 

However, a 17-0 run from the Celts proved to be too much for the Warriors to handle. 

Warriors have a historic collapse against the Celtics. 

Jayson Tatum couldn’t find the bucket tonight but got his teammates going early and in the second half, notching 13 assists, a career high. The stars of the night however, were Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, both of whom were the catalysts for that 17-0 fourth quarter run. 

The Celtics dropped a whopping 40 points in the final period, making it the first time since Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals that a team has dropped 40+ points in this period (Kevin Garnett and company closed out Kobe Bryant’s Lakers).

At the start of the 4th quarter, the Boston Celtics trailed by 12. They ended up with a 12-point win.

The 24-point scoring margin in the 4th tied the largest in any quarter of a Finals game in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/TRKfln8zov

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 3, 2022

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Al Horford dropped 23 points and had a career high six made shots from beyond the arc. Derrick White seems to have found his shot from beyond as well after becoming a father and Jaylen Brown was in his bag all throughout the 4th, knocking down 3s and middys. 

The Celtics proved themselves to a generational defense, showing more than just shades of the old San Antonio Spurs squads with their savvy adjustments and switching schemes. 

With Chase Center not having been as potent as Oracle Arena, homecourt advantage as been stripped away from Curry and co.