Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and the Boston Celtics have won game 1 of the NBA Finals. They managed to steal a win on the road against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics won game 1 with a final score of 120-108. Al Horford is the oldest veteran on the Celtics. However, this is just his first trip to the NBA Finals.
Al Horford played a superb game 1. However, he did not prematurely celebrate after taking game 1. This is because he knows of the task at hand and the job not finished. Therefore, he did not even look very happy discussing the Celtic’s victory in game 1.
Al Horford knows that Boston Celtics must stay hungry
For every team that wins the NBA Finals, there are 15 teams that fall short of this goal every year. Several NBA teams make deep playoff runs to just fall short of the ultimate goal. Horford knows this better than most people. He has never made the NBA Finals before and decided to make the most of it.
“Just continue to play. That was our message throughout the whole game… it wasn’t our best game but we continued to fight and find different ways to get this one.”
Al Horford after winning the NBA Finals Game 1 🔥pic.twitter.com/Sn7pfzwkSa
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 3, 2022
Al scored 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in game 1. He was able to dominate in terms of scoring primarily because of the “small ball” lineup that the Warriors frequently used. Additionally, his size makes it different for most of the Warriors to guard him. Here is what he had to say following the game 1 win.
“You know they’re such a good team and for us, it was just .. just continue to play no matter what, and our guys that’s what we did… it wasn’t our best game but we continued to fight and find different ways to get this win.”
The Celtics definitely found a way to get the job done in game 1. They were down 78-92 towards the end of the fourth quarter. However, they rallied and went on a 40-16 scoring run in the 4th quarter to end the game. Horford knows that the biggest games and tests for his team are yet to come. He clearly has high expectations of his team and wants them to play the best basketball possible to win the NBA Finals.