Stephen Curry: Warriors need to play with 'sense of desperation' early in Game 2

After a fourth quarter collapse in Game 1 gave the Boston Celtics an early lead in the NBA Finals, Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry says his squad isn't panicking. But Curry also knows the team needs to dial up the intensity on Sunday if it hopes to avoid digging a deeper hole.

"I think early in the game there were some defensive breakdowns and a lack of physicality that gave some of [the Celtics'] guys some confidence," Curry said Game 1 during a press conference Saturday. "That carried over through the rest of the game and in the fourth quarter you could just feel the momentum shifting dramatically. Then the avalanche started.

"So we have to come out with a sense of desperation [in the] first quarter and really cement ourselves in terms of what we're trying to do. Play with the same joy, the same aggressiveness that we always do, but we have to sustain it over a full 48 [minutes]."

Golden State led by 12 after the first three quarters of Game 1, but were outscored by the Celtics 40-16 in the fourth quarter en route to a 120-108 loss. Curry started the game with a record-breaking first quarter when he nailed six 3-pointers. But Curry made only one of his final seven 3-point tries of the game, while Boston's Al Horford, Marcus Smart and Derrick White all found success from deep late in the game.

During the Warriors' streak of five consecutive NBA Finals appearances between 2015 and 2019, the team won Game 1 in all but one series. After losing the first game in 2019, Golden State bounced back to beat the Toronto Raptors in Game 2. The Warriors went on to lose the series in six games.

Game 2 is set to tip off Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.