Overtaken by the Warriors in the third quarter and trailing by twelve points at the start of the fourth, the Celtics were on track to take a first defeat in these 2022 NBA Finals. But Ime Udoka’s men dropped an end of madness match in which a certain Al Horford particularly shone. First career final for uncle Al, first masterclass!
141 matches. He had to wait 141 Playoff games before finally tasting the atmosphere of the NBA Finals. So now, Al Horford wants to make the most of it, much to the chagrin of a Warriors team that has just taken an “Al Horford Game” in the face. The one who celebrates his 36 broomsticks this Friday, June 3 has just offered himself a magnificent birthday present: a victory for the Celtics with the bonus of an individual performance size boss: 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in 33 minutes, all at 9/12 shooting, 6/8 parking (!!) and 2/3 free throws. About a year ago Brad Stevens got rid of a burnt-out Kemba Walker and a first-round draft pick to get Horford back in Beantown, today Horford finishes an NBA Finals game in the Celtics leading scorer suit . The sentence is simply incredible and what is perhaps even more is that the veteran broke his career 3-pointer record – regular season and Playoffs combined – with six award-winning shots in his very first game. of NBA Finals. Long story short, no player in League history had planted so much of the parking lot on his big stage debut. If we are all used to seeing him shine in defense, if we all know how valuable he is in a collective through his game intelligence and his leadership, if we know that he can occasionally crash behind the arc, no one did not expect that.
26 points at 9/12 shooting including 6/8 three-pointers for his first NBA Finals game.
Jayson Tatum ?
Nope.
Al fucking Horford.
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) June 3, 2022
Six 3-point shots therefore, including three between the end of the third quarter and the middle of the fourth when the Celtics completely overthrew the Warriors in front of their own public (40-16 in the last quarter, 54-28 from 3: 43 in the third). And as a symbol, it was uncle Al who gave the lead to Boston with a winning shot allowing the Greens to pass in front 106-103. As a symbol, it was still Al who took advantage of yet another assist from Jayson Tatum in playmaker mode to push the advantage to 109-103 with only five minutes left in the game. And finally, it was once more Horford who added a small string at mid-distance, before definitively putting the lid on at the end of the match. TEA. AL. HORFORD. GAME. Quite simply.
“I just wanted to enjoy the moment. […] I just wanted to play the right way, make sure I found the opportunities where they were. I wanted to make sure I was ready to shoot, my teammates found me tonight and it went. »
– Al Horford
Symbol of the fantastic comeback of the Celtics when they were mistreated in the third quarter and in particular on the rebound, Al Horford might not have dreamed of a better scenario for his big debut in the NBA Finals. No doubt, uncle Al wants his first bagouze, he who is now in his 15th NBA season and his 13th Playoffs campaign. A campaign where we have the impression that he said ten years younger, and you can imagine that this impression has not changed following Game 1 of this night.
Playing his first career NBA Finals and having lost his grandfather in the series once morest Miami, Al Horford seems more than ever on a mission today. He is now only three wins from an NBA title and if he continues to play like that, there’s a good chance that Boston will go to the end of the delirium.
Al Horford was on fire in Q4, going 4-for-4 from the field to lead the @celtics comeback to take a 1-0 series lead! #ToastedHighlights pic.twitter.com/X3J5G6XKIC
— NBA (@NBA) June 3, 2022
Four of Al Horford’s six made 3s were basically uncontested. Two had a late contest. Horford is making 46.3 percent of his 3s in the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/oH36eyZEEP
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 3, 2022