SAN FRANCISCO — Teams that try to match Golden State from downtown generally die that way.
But on a night when Jayson Tatum went cold, the Celtics took Game 1 of the NBA Finals by virtue of the 3-ball in their 120-108 win over Golden State.
The Celtics buried seven 3-pointers in the last 7:08, including two each from Derrick White, Al Horford and Marcus Smart, including five in a 2:18 stretch, to blow the Warriors off the floor.
Golden State, which had led by 12 points at the start of the fourth, and was riding high on a 34-point, seven-trey performance by Steph Curry, faded that suddenly. Overall the Celtics had nine treys in the quarter, including two over the first 3:38 by Jaylen Brown, who came alive in the quarter on the way to a 24-point performance, to go along with another 26 from Horford. Tatum finished the night with 12 points, including 1-for-5 3-point shooting.
The Celtics ultimately shot 51.2% (21-41) from downtown. Golden State was 42.2% (19-for-45) from the same range.
Horford’s 3-pointer — the Celtics’ fourth straight bomb in a two-minute stretch — was good for a 106-103 C’s lead with 5:08 left. Golden State, which started the fourth with a 12-point lead, called timeout.
Horford came out of the timeout picking off a Draymond Green pass and finished it off down the other end from the top of the circle for a 109-103 edge and the Celtics’ fifth straight 3-pointer, now in a 2:18 span.
Horford came out of yet another timeout with a score, this time from 17 feet, for a 111-103 lead. Green, with the crowd groaning, missed two free throws, and Horford rebounded a Brown miss and Marcus Smart for a 3-pointer and a 114-103 lead.
Green committed an offensive foul, and Smart hit from downtown again, now for a 117-103 advantage and the game.
Tatum had 12 points on 3-for-14 shooting, and Brown 14 (6-for-17) by the end of a third quarter that found the Warriors out to a 92-80 lead. Curry’s nine-point third, after a scoreless second, had boosted his total to 30 points, including 7-for-13 3-point shooting.
With the Warriors shooting 45.9% overall from 3 (17-for-37), the Celtics had spent a lot of time chasing, instead of effectively switching.
Brown opened the fourth with five straight points, assisted on a Rob Williams lob dunk, and suddenly the Celtics had cut the Golden State lead to five (92-87) with 9:35 left. Curry checked back in, Brown stripped Andre Iguodala and fed Payton Pritchard at the rim to cut the Warriors lead to 92-89.
Iguodala scored, and Brown answered with a corner 3 that cut the Warriors lead to 94-92. The Celtics cut the lead to two on a Pritchard 3, and then in order a point (101-100) and then for the tie (103-103) on a pair of White 3-pointers wrapped around a Curry hoop.
