Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) celebrates with teammates during the second half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, Thursday, June 2, 2022. (AP Photo/John Hefti)AP

SAN FRANCISCO — If the Celtics don’t win the 2022 NBA title now, it’ll be a massive disappointment. There’s no mistaking that anymore.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals was Boston’s best victory of the postseason and it raised the expectations bar to its highest point. The Celtics have momentum, confidence and homecourt advantage. They’re the favorite now.

Their 18th banner is there for the taking if they can finish the job.

The exciting thing for the Celtics is that while Thursday was a great win, it was far from a terrific performance for most of the game.

Boston dominated the fourth quarter despite no points by Jayson Tatum and won the game even though he scored just 12 points and shot 3-for-17. He had 13 assists and was content to let other people shoot — and make — big shots.

The Celtics won despite Steph Curry delivering a terrific 34-point game for the Warriors. Golden State can’t expect much more than that from their iconic star. If the Warriors can’t win when Tatum isn’t scoring and Curry is, they’re in trouble.

The Celtics won despite admittedly being nervous coming in.

“I think everybody had nerves today from our side. It’s our first time being here,” said Payton Pritchard, who had five of his eight points in the fourth quarter. “Just getting up and down, I think it went away quick. But it’s definitely exciting.”

The Celtics aren’t likely to get another 40-16 fourth quarter, but in most games, they’re not likely to need one.

It wouldn’t have been surprising or even concerning if the Celtics lost Game 1. In each of the first three series, Boston got better in Game 2.

They needed a buzzer-beater to beat Brooklyn and lost openers to Milwaukee and Miami. In each series, they absorbed what they learned in Game 1 and used it to build off of for the rest of the series. When Boston trailed by 15 in the third quarter, it looked like it was going that way against a Golden State team that that’s been 21-2 in series openers under Steve Kerr.

Instead they blasted their way by the shell-shocked Warriors.

“They were moving the ball really well, and they had us on our heels. They made a good push to start the fourth, and they kept that momentum going,” Kerr said. “It’s going to be tough to beat Boston if they are making 21 threes ... Those guys, give them credit. They knocked down every big shot in the fourth quarter. Boston just played a brilliant quarter. They came in and earned the win.”

There’s real pressure on the Warriors now. Going down 2-0 at home isn’t necessarily catastrophic, but it will feel catastrophic if they don’t even the series Sunday. But that won’t be easy because while it was a great win and a great fourth quarter, the Celtics didn’t actually play anywhere close to their ceiling.

“It’s a confidence builder because we didn’t play our best at all. Obviously Jayson didn’t play his best. Every time we looked up, 32-28 after the first quarter, only down four at halftime. We hadn’t played well at all,” Udoka said. “Knowing what we can do defensively if we’re a little more tuned in -- lack of communication in the first half -- I think obviously shows the blueprint for what we can do there. Getting those opening night jitters out, I think that settled some as the game went on.”

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