“Al Horford has major f**king clutch DNA” Stephen A. Smith and Patrick Beverley cannot stop gushing over Celtics veteran taking over Game 1 of NBA Finals
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Stephen A Smith and Patrick Beverley praise Al Horford
The Chase Centre was buzzing with ecstasy for the first 3 Quarters of Game 1 in the NBA Finals, until Al Horford swept the floor with the Warriors, and there was a ghastly silence in the Final Quarter. The much awaited battle between the Champions of The East and West, finally begun on 2nd June, with the Boston Celtics storming the Warriors in the 4th quarter, earning a commanding victory of foreign soil. Al Horford led an electrifying fourth quarter comeback as the Boston Celtics stunned the Golden State Warriors 120-108 to draw first blood in their best-of-seven NBA Finals series on Thursday, something which Stephen A Smith and Patrick Beverley seemed to enjoy a lot.
The Golden State Warriors were invincible on their home floor during the 2022 NBA playoffs and for three quarters it looked like they would dominate Game 1 of their NBA Finals series against the Boston Celtics. However, things fell apart horribly over the course of the final 12 minutes of action as the visitors walked into Chase Center and outscored the Warriors 40-16 during the fourth quarter to come away with a 120-108 win.
The talismans for both sides shone bright as Stephen Curry led all scorers with a game-high 34 points while Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole combined for 44 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists of their own. In the end, that was not enough to overcome the performance from Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Derrick White as the road team was able to steal home-court advantage in Game 1.
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“Gotta Give Al Horford lot of credit” – Pat Bev and Stephen A Smith admire the Boston Centre’s performance
Al Horford made his Finals debut and put together as good of a performance as you could dream about on the biggest stage, 26 points on 75% shooting, with six 3-pointers — the most-ever in a Finals debut. Meanwhile, Brown finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block, while White finished with 21 points, one rebound and three assists off the bench.
The Celtics entered the fourth quarter in serious trouble down 12 points to a Warriors team that was 9-0 at home in the playoffs through the first three rounds. And when the frame started with Jayson Tatum missing two easy looks to continue his brutal shooting performance, it didn’t appear as though a comeback was in the cards. Enter Big Al –
“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Horford said after the 120-108 win over the Warriors in San Francisco, “Just continue to play, that was our message throughout the whole game. They’re such a good team. And for us, it was just, you know, 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.
“I know it’s different but I played on a similar stage in college and in those types of games, I just felt comfortable out there. And I wanted to project that to the group. I wanted to make sure that our guys came out here and played free. I wanted them to understand that this is just a game, so just go out there and have fun.”
Horford has come up clutch multiple times this season for Boston, including the series with Milwaukee Bucks. Horford credited his teammates for not giving up despite trailing by 12 points coming into the final frame against a team that had not lost at home all playoffs long. His impact and experience coupled with the explosive talent of Boston has turned to out be a treat for the eyes, a recipe for success for the Celtics, which Stephen A Smith and Patrick Beverley thoroughly acknowledged.
“Well it just means that the Boston Celtics were bigger, they were stronger and they knew it and as a result they didn’t panic when Steph Curry exploded for 6 threes and 21 points in the first quarter, because they knew they’d be able to contain them, which they ultimately did over the last three quarters, holding him to 13 points. In the end when you’re able to neutralize Klay Thompson and make Jordan Poole have an absolutely awful offensive game, the bottom line is you can end up walking away with game one stealing home court advantage and putting the Golden State Warriors on their heels.” Stephen A Smith explained the emphatic victory Boston earned.
“There was no stopping Jaylen Brown, I know that Al Horford had more points but Jaylen Brown was doing what he wanted to do in pivotal moments offensively, Klay Thompson and others seemed ill-equipped to stop him”. Al Horford, you know clipping it clipping and clipping it, so you got to give them a lot of credit man.” Patrick Beverley said in awe of the immense shift the Celtics put in to emerge victorious.
Boston is looking to capture its record-breaking 18th title, which would move the Celtics past the Lakers, and now is just three wins away from doing it, thanks for Big Al who showed up when the heat was turned up, on his birthday too. When Steph Curry exploded for an NBA Finals record 21 first quarter points, it appeared like the Warriors were well-positioned to keep their perfect home record intact. Not so fast, the Celtics took control of the game in the fourth quarter, going on a 20-0 run that stunned the Warriors.
“It’s first to four, not first to one.” Klay said in the post game conference and rightly so. It’s a wake-up call for the Warriors, a warning from Boston and Big Al, that this is going down to the wire. If the Celtics can continue getting key performances from players like Horford and White, they’ll be in a good position down the stretch, however, don’t count the Splash Brothers out yet. Steph showed us what he is capable of in the first quarter today, once Klay and Poole get going, Boston will be in trouble. Get ready for a battle of the ages, as the NBA Title hangs in the balance.
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Aditya Minocha
(216 Articles Published)