With a colossal 16-40 run in the last quarter, the Boston Celtics stormed San Francisco (USA) on Thursday and went ahead in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors after giving an imperial lesson in endurance (108 -120).

The Celtics saw Stephen Curry score 21 points with six triples in the first quarter and went down 15 in the third quarter, but they did not lose faith or head and ended up taking the win with a display of choral basketball and collective spirit. Al Horford (26 points with six triples, six rebounds and three assists), Jaylen Brown seven rebounds, 24 points, and five assists), Derrick White (21 points with five triples) and Marcus Smart (18 points, five rebounds and four assists) were the best for some Celtics who also overcame the poor night of their star, Jayson Tatum (12 points on 3-of-17 shooting).

In these playoffs, Boston made 21 of 41 three-pointers and became 24 the first team to beat the Warriors on the road. From more to less, Golden State wasted Curry's 34 points, five rebounds and five assists and missed Klay Thompson (15 points on 6-for-14 shooting) and Draymond Green (4 points on 2-for-12 shooting). The only good news for the Warriors was the return from injuries of Otto Porter Jr. (12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range) and Andre Iguodala (7 points, three rebounds and three assists). The 40 three-pointers between the two teams is a new record for a Finals game.

The first quarter gave several readings: the nerves of the two teams at the beginning, the tremendous Thompson-Brown duel, the courage of Wiggins in the paint or Smart's self-confidence in the triple. However, everything was in the background before the majestic staging of Curry.

Electric from the perimeter, the point guard chained an incendiary 6 of 8 triples (counting one that he missed from midfield in the last second of the quarter), left the Celtics' defence open-mouthed and closed the opening quarter with a fantastic 21 points to give the Warriors the lead (32-28). Curry's bye minutes seemed like the right time for the Celtics to regroup.

Instead, two triples in a row by Otto Porter Jr. confirmed that the Warriors had entered the game with many sparks (44-37 with 8:37 for the break). The locals got to +10, but then the Celtics reacted with an admirable improvement in their defence and with Brown and Smart taking the reins in attack, they signed a 0-10 run to tie the game.

Boston was looking for Tatum, and Tatum was looking for himself, but the Celtics star was not comfortable in the first half (8 points on 2 of 9 shooting). Nor did the Warriors find relief for Curry, who did not score in the second quarter and added his third foul, and the game went into halftime with a slim lead for the Celtics (54-56) and the feeling that the two teams had a lot of growth margin.