Al Horford already made history by simply stepping onto the court during Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals — becoming the first Dominican player to do so — but by the end of the game, he made history again.

In Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, June 2, Horford broke an NBA Finals record, making 6 out of his 8 three-point attempts during the Boston Celtics’ 120-108 win over the Golden State Warriors.

That is the most three-pointers made by a player making his NBA Finals debut. It was also the most three-pointers Horford has ever made in a single game in his 1,092 total combined regular season and playoff career games played. 

Horford finished the game as the Celtics’ leading scorer, with 26 points on 9-12 shooting overall from the field, to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists and a steal in nearly 33 minutes played.

There was a stretch during the fourth quarter in which Horford scored 8 straight points — out of the 11 total he scored in the final frame — to help the Celtics make a furious rally to erase a double-digit deficit to start the final quarter.

His three-pointer with 5:10 remaining in the fourth put the Celtics up for good, as they went on to win the game. 

During the postgame press conference, when asked about the keys to successfully completing their comeback, Horford said, “Just continue to play. That was our message throughout the whole game. They’re such a good team, and for us, it was just 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.”

Horford’s record-setting night took place just a day prior to his 36th birthday. 

The Celtics now lead the NBA Finals 1-0 with Game 2 set for Sunday, June 5 in San Francisco, California, at 8 p.m.