1 down, 15 to go.
As far as Game 1s go, I’d say things went fairly well.
The final score may have said 112-99, but it was not that close.
The Celts found themselves up 22 points just 19 minutes into this game and never really looked back.
A lead by as much as 32 points, things went how most predicted when talking about this matchup.
Now, it should be stated that you do not win a series by winning Game 1.
That is not how things work, unfortunately.
You need 4 of them.
All this win did was give the Celts a 1-0 lead.
It did not guarantee a Game 2 win and it did not guarantee a series win.
This is part of what we’re going to learn about Joe in his first playoff run.
Can he keep them locked in even amidst success?
What we did see, is a Celtics team that can win the NBA title.
They basically got an offensive stinker out of the way and still won.
That has to make you feel pretty good moving forward, knowing this team can playeven better.
Let’s talk about it.
Your best of the best needs to show up and carry you.
Maybe it would impact his play, maybe it wouldn’t.
He’s that guy I’m afraid.
How would he look with a busted up hand?
Jaylen Brown got wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
He just goes through you.
It didn’t really matter who the Hawks tried, Jaylen is too strong.
How many times did we see the Jaylen/Smart backdoor cut?
3 or 4 seperate times?
That is quickly becoming the most unstoppable set in basketball, and it’s all due to chemistry.
Those two connect on that play by simply sending brain wavelengths to each other.
The turnovers were a disaster (more on this in a minute), but overall?
If this is the Jaylen I’m getting for the next 2 months, I am very excited.
You would hear legitimate crying that Brad was stupid to include a future pick swap in the deal.
What he got was a player that looks like he was born to be a Celtic.
Take this season for example.
It starts with White being completely straight on his jumper.
No lead, no fade.
A straight ass line.
It’s quicker, it’s positioned well, and his body stays straight.
This doesn’t happen overnight, it happens by spending hours and hours and hours in the gym.
You get that through creating good habits and good muscle memory which comes from hard work.
When Derrick would have his inconsistency last year, it was in part because his form/release wasn’t consistent.
Defensively, we got what we expected.
Derrick had Trae Young in hell.
White guarded Trae for 31 possessions and held him to just 6 points on 2-7 shooting.
Having gone through teams with Isaiah and then Kemba, this is just what happens this time of year.
- Let’s be perfectly clear.
The first 24 minutes of this game were pure Celtics crack.
I’m talking the good shit.
When we get a taste of that version of the Celtics….man.
Seeing that shit in the playoffs makes it all the more intense.
It all starts on the defensive end.
This was only the 3rd time ALL SEASON the Hawks were kept to under 100 points.
Where did that start?
As it always does.
During the year outside of Derrick, we saw some regression from the perimeter defenders on this team.
If you take away their drive and kicks, like we see here
the Hawks are in trouble.
Look at these scrambles and closeouts.
Everyone is on a string and working as a cohesive unit.
Sure I don’t love all that OREB in that possession, but I love how the Celts recovered.
To be blunt, the Celts were dogshit during the year at guarding P&R.
I’m talking 37th percentile.
Did it feel like Trae killed this team at any point in P&R?
- Rob looks like Rob and I cannot contain my excitement.
I’m busting Jerry, I’m busting!!!
He just changes everything on both ends.
Tell me that’s not the Rob you know and love.
It’s all incredible.
Offensively, there’s the OREB, the passing, and of course, the lobs.
Add in the fact that he only played 22 minutes, and this was the perfect Rob game.
- Can you believe we went this long and didn’t event talk about Tatum’s first half?
Joe might actually be the chosen one.
The answer so far, is yes.
That’s playoff basketball.
- Al Horford is just the perfect human.
I don’t know how else to say it.
That starts and ends with turnovers.
Having lived through last year’s run, it’s pretty simple.
When the Celts turn the ball over more than 15 times, they’re usually fucked.
You’re not beating them.
That’s simply way too many against a team that cannot play defense.
Just weird dribbling turnovers followed immediately by him grabbing his hand.
Can’t say I love that.
But he wasn’t alone.
Those 16 TOs led to 19 Hawks points, which was basically 20% of their total.
This has to be cleaned up on Tuesday.
- In terms of playing with fire when it came to TOs, the same is true with OREBs.
That’s a big no-no for anyone who has watched the Celts this season.
Their 4th quarter defensive rebounding has to be MUCH better in Game 2.
Limit those, and there’s no issue.
As awesome as the first half was, that’s how poor the final 24 mintues were.
Some of the most disgusting offensive basketball of the Celts season.
It was everything we hate about how they sometimes play.
They stopped playing fast and instead looked like a team that was playing the clock/isolation offense.
Add in some missed bunnies and turnovers, and that’s how you spark runs.
The Celtics finished with 38 points over the final 24 minutes on 34/23% splits with 8 TOs.
That’s pretty gross.
Tatum finished that half just 1-8, Smart went 1-5, and Brogdon 1-4.
Those are three pretty important players in terms of offense that went a combined 3-17.
Tatum especially was weird because he just stopped being aggressive and attacking the rim.
When he did decide to attack, he missed 4 of his 5 shots in the paint.
Technically, the Hawks never got it to under 12.
Enough of that shit.
You just have to get it.
The goal is to stack Ws.
The Celtics, now need just 15.
Here’s to making it 14 in a few days.
