The Boston Celtic cs beat the Golden State Warriors 120-108 on Thursday in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, thanks to a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback led by Al Horford.

On his 36th birthday, Al Horford made his Finals debut with 26 points and six three-pointers, making up for a discreet night for Boston star Jayson Tatum, who scored 12 points (3/17 on field goals) and 13 assists. "It's been a lot of fun," said Horford, who went 9-for-12 from the field and had six rebounds, three assists and a steal. "It wasn't our greatest game, but we kept fighting and found different ways to get this victory."

After entering the fourth quarter trailing by double figures, no team had ever won a Finals game by more than 10 points in history. The comeback capped an exciting start to the ring fight between the top two teams in the Playoffs, who combined for 40 3-pointers, a record for a Finals match.

Shooting guard Jaylen Brown, with 10 of his 24 points at the start of the fourth quarter, and backup point guard Derrick White, with 21 points and five triples, also shone for the Celtics, who never gave up despite being at a disadvantage for much of the match.

Led by rookie coach Ime Udoka, the Celtics are vying for their first ring since 2008, and none of their players had played in a single Finals game. On the other hand, the Warriors have the experience of fighting for the title for the 6th  time in the last eight years with the same core formed by Curry, Klay Thompson (15 points) and Draymond Green (4 points and 11 rebounds). "They played a tremendous fourth quarter; give it to them. It's as simple as that," Golden State coach Steve Kerr conceded.

Hardened in a thousand battles, the leaders of the Warriors called to turn the page on this defeat, the first in ten games played at home in these playoffs, and respond strongly in the second chapter on Sunday. "This is not ideal, but I believe in who we are and how we deal with adversity," Curry said. "We have to say true  about what went wrong, hold each other accountable and come out with another level of effort and desperation to protect our home court on Sunday."

Celebrating a return to the Finals after two seasons of traversing the desert, Stephen Curry entertained the Chase Center with a record first quarter. At 34 years old, the base, he exploded with six 3-pointers, the most for a quarter of a Finals game, for 21 points in that first quarter. Not even Marcus Smart, the Best Defensive Player of the season, was able to stop Curry's display, who led the Warriors to three rings (2015, 2017 and 2018) without being recognized with a Finals MVP (Most Valuable Player) award.