The Celtics May Have Dropped Game 1 But Just Remember There's A Long Way To Go

Elsa. Getty Images.

After the world was telling me for days that the Celts were going to get destroyed by Brooklyn in this series, I woke up this morning feeling great. We didn't exactly learn anything in Game 1 that we didn't really know. For the Celts to have a chance, they were going to have to play near perfect basketball. Their margin for error basically doesn't exist. On the other side, the Nets do not have that issue. I've blogged a million times before about what sets them apart is they have the talent and depth to overcome a night where their stars may struggle. That's basically exactly how Game 1 went. I walk away from last night feeling much better about the Velts being able to make this a competitive series, as should you. I would say both sides will say their star players won't play that poorly again, and honestly this game went pretty much how every matchup has this season. The Celts play it close, we have a competitive game until around mid fourth quarter, and then a final offensive drought does them in. Yesterday was one of those games you really wish they had Jaylen for, but all things considered I wouldn't exactly say the Celts went out and embarrassed themselves or anything that should make you all that mad.

Frustrated, sure. I mean it's frustrating any time you lose a winnable game in the playoffs. This was basically the MIA series all over again. But if the narrative around this series heading in was that the Celts were going to get dick stomped and the exact opposite happens, I see that as a little bit of a bright spot. Remember, the goal here is to split the first two. That is still on the table last time I checked. 

It's actually a little funny that a series that wasn't supposed to show any sort of consistent defense had this low of score and had star players on both sides not really able to shoot for shit. Chances are that improves for everyone moving forward. I don't think we're going to see this series live in the 90s/low 100s very often. I do know this, series do not end after Game 1. We know this because of what happened in 2019. What I saw last night was that when this team shows up and plays to their potential, they can hang with anyone. It's those brutal offensive droughts that continue to do them in. What else is new.

So weirdly, while annoyed with how this game ended, I am feeling good as ever about Celts in 7. Here's why

The Good

- Anyone who continues to try and call you a "green teamer" or tries to discredit the impact that Robert Williams has on both ends of the basketball court is simply a troll and someone that is not watching what is on their television. Playing on a fucked up toe, this man was incredible in his 23 minutes

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Even if that record is a little wonky because they weren't tracking Bill Russell in his day, it's still impressive as hell. Things just move so much better when Rob is on the floor. That rim protection is fantastic, but so is his ability to stay with quicker guards like Harden and block jumpers. This is not the first time we saw Rob do this either. He got Harden on this exact move on April 6th as well. 

It's just impossible for me to understand how anyone could possibly not love what Rob brings to the table. Fighting through the pain, making an instant impact on both ends, and then having the mentality we all want to see moving forward

The next step for Rob is not quite biting on so many shot fakes, but in my mind he's proven everything he needs to. We're at the point where you cannot deny how important he is to this team's success. There's a reason the Celtics defense looked so good in this game, and Rob was a big reason why. 11/9 with 9 blocks? That's big time stuff.

- One thing we learned in Game 1 was the Nets are going to have a really tough time playing Blake Griffin. He becomes a target way too often. This may not matter in this series, but it will matter for sure if the Nets want to make the Finals. In his 12 first half minutes Blake was a team worst -11. Guys like Tatum were too quick for him. That's probably why we only saw him for 7 minutes in the second half.

If the Nets are going to continue to play Blake, the Celts have to remain aggressive. He's the weak link in their defense. Kemba (2-3), Smart (1-2), Tatum (1-3) all had success driving past Blake on multiple occasions. My guess is the Nets adjustment will be to play more Jeff Green, who was much better defensively in his 15 second half minutes.

- For all the shit he gets, Marcus Smart was pretty damn good in this game

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For those who don't want him to shoot, he finished 6-13 (3-8) and did pretty much everything in his 17/3/5 performance. He held James Harden scoreless on 10 possessions and Durant to just 4 points on 4-10 shooting. Kyrie gave him work, but the man is human. I'd say Smart gave you more than his share and a chance to win. The decision making was OK, really I had him down for only 1 or 2 bad threes, his defensive intensity was where it needed to be, and he played in control for the most part.

If this is the version of Smart they are going to get for the entire series, and really I just mean defensively, then the Celts will continue to be in games. I know his shooting may not always be consistent like this, but the energy and effort defensively can be. He just has to find a way to slow down Kyrie, something he has yet to do this season. 

- When the Nets offense "woke up" in the second half, they still only shot 42/33%. The issue was more the Celts inability to score. Heading into this series the big question was how the hell were the Celts going to slow down this unstoppable offense. While BKN did miss some open looks (just like the Celts), I walk away much more encouraged about the Celts ability to play defense in this series than I did coming in. If they are going to do anything in this series, it's going to be because of their defense. This was easily the best we've seen this team defend in months.

- Playoff Jabari?? Why not!

The Bad

- The issue though is that if you plan on beating the Nets, you have to score. That wasn't exactly a problem in the first half. Wild how things looks so much better when your shots actually fall, but man could it not have been a more opposite situation over the final 24 minutes. I'm talking just 40 points on 32/15% shooting. A half where they had nearly the same amount of TOs (7) as FGM (13). It started how these collapses usually do. The Celts came out in the third quarter with a 6 point lead. They immediately turned the ball over 4 times which allowed the Nets to start building momentum offensively. When you shoot 32/0% on one end and then cannot get stops on the other (57/41%), that's where the game changed. Tatum played all 12 minutes in that third quarter and didn't hit a shot. Smart went 2-7. Kemba was 1-2, but had twice as many TOs as FGM. 

What's crazy is in that third quarter the Celt had double the points in the paint, 8x the 2nd chance points, and more fast break points. The issue? A 5 to 0 3PM difference. The Nets started hitting the shots they missed in the first half, and the Celts turned into the first half Nets. 

- Once things turned to the fourth quarter, it was the same story. A total of 4 TOs to just 5 FGM. Tatum again did not make a FG in his 9 minutes. Kemba with a tough 2-6, but those two makes came when the game was basically over. Call me crazy, but I don't think we're going to see too many games where Jayson Tatum does not make a FGM over an entire half of basketball. 

- I think it's OK to admit that this team has a defending Kyrie problem. They haven't been able to do it all year. Doesn't matter who guards him. In all of these losses so far, it always seems like we see Kyrie unload dagger after dagger. Last night it was that little 5-0 run late in the fourth quarter to really pull away. They just don't have an answer for him. Even when they do play decent defense, he finds a way to finish. Where was this shit in the MIL series, I'll never know.

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- You cannot allow 14 OREB to this Nets team and think that's going to work out well for you. Even if it only resulted in 13 second chance points, it's forcing you to play defense for longer, use more energy, etc. The Celts have to do a better job to collectively rebound and limit these Nets offensive possessions. Especially because they aren't going to shoot so poorly the whole series.

- Jeff Green was a +14 in his 26 minutes. Of course he was. Why does he continue to ruin my life when all I ever did was believe in him? Feels rather rude if you ask me. Doesn't matter if it was with the Cavs or now the Nets. Guy cannot stop ruining my life and frankly I don't really care for it.

The Ugly

- This is groundbreaking news so sorry for the extremely hot take, but the Celtics have no chance if their best players play like shit. In what is already a tall order, things become virtually impossible if this team gets a no show from Tatum/Kemba/Fournier. That's the simple truth. 

Jayson Tatum: 6-20

Evan Fournier: 3-10

Kemba Walker: 5-16

I saw Kemba get a majority of the heat last night which was certainly deserved, shit was a disaster for him, but he wasn't exactly alone. When your top 3 offensive options only combine for 47 points on 14-46 shooting, you aren't beating the Nets. Doesn't matter how good Smart or Rob might have been. We knew heading into this series that the Celts stars would essentially have to be perfect, and they were anything but. 

The difference in their shooting drought compared to the Nets one was the fact that this was not a case of the Celts missing a ton of wide open looks. Tatum was just 3-13 on "tight" coverage. Kemba was 3-7 and Fournier was 0-5. That's gross. It's not even like Tatum had the wrong offensive approach either. Look at his game chart

That's exactly what you want. With no true rim protector, it was frustrating that he couldn't really find his rhythm. The same is true for Kemba

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The approach is right. This is partly why I'm not freaking out. The Celts best players were able to get to their spots pretty much all night. Areas that we want them shooting from. They just couldn't buy a bucket in this game. That shit happens, but it's a long series. You're telling me Tatum is going to shoot like that from in the paint all series? I doubt it.

But we can also be honest here. If Tatum/Kemba/Fournier don't show up offensively, this team has no shot. Again, the Nets can afford a shooting slump because of their talent level. The Celts cannot. No matter how good their defense is, they have to at least do something on the offensive end to have a chance. If you were to tell me their top 3 offensive options would go 15-47, you would think the Celts lost by 40. They didn't, which is encouraging on some level.

If this team is going to go down, I want to see them go down swinging. That's what Game 1 was for me. We'll just have to see if this was really their only shot to steal a win, or if they showed us that we might actually have a competitive series on our hands. They showed us they can run with the Nets for stretches, now we just need to see them do it for a full 48. They get some actual offense from their three best players at the moment, anything can happen.