The Celtics entered the game as a favorite but a bad shooting night doomed them. The team went a putrid 15-of-60 from beyond the arc, with stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combining to go 14-of-43.

The play call was perfect. The pass from Karl-Anthony Towns was precise. The shot was one Jalen Brunson has made thousands of times.

With Brunson’s dominant fourth quarter in Game 1, he made NBA playoff history as he became just the third player since 1997-98 to score 75 or more points in the fourth quarter through their first seven games of a postseason run. Brunson joins Stephen Curry, who did so in 2023, and Kobe Bryant, who accomplished it in 2008.