The Celtics Showed Why They Are A Certified Wagon After Taking Game 1 In Dramatic Fashion

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

I'm still shaking. I dunno about you, but I plan on riding this high for the next 48 hours at least. The matchup that everyone couldn't wait to see probably gave us the best opening game of any series in the playoffs and confirmed what we all expected that this is going to be a war. Now what I don't want Celts fans to do is think this series is over. Let's learn from history, the last thing we want is another 2019 Milwaukee series on our hands. Remember that? The Celts blew out the Bucks in Game 1 and then immediately lost 4 straight. You should feel good about that not happening this year mostly because they aren't being sabotaged by their starting point guard this time around, but there is still a LOONNNNNGGGGGGGGG way to go in this series. All the Celts did yesterday was what we expected them to do. They protected home court. They didn't win a series, they didn't put the Nets on life support, they just took care of business in a game they really needed to win. 

Game 1s historically is pretty important. There have been 336 first round series in NBA history. Of those 336, the winner of Game 1 has gone on to win 268 times after getting up 1-0 (79.8%). Around 83.6% of those series end in 5 games if you want to start getting carried away and allowing your brain to go to dangerous places. Of course, the Nets are not your typical 7 seed so that historical data should be taken with a grain of salt, but I ask you this. Would you rather be up 1-0 or down 0-1? What if I told you that there were just 3 instances all season in which the Celtics lost 4 games over a 6 game span. One came in the first week of the season, one came when Jaylen missed the West Coast trip in December, and the other was at the end of December when Tatum was out. That's it. Last time I checked, this is not the same team we saw in October and both Jaylen and Tatum are healthy. That seems important.

While you can't ever win a series after 1 game, you can certainly dig yourself quite the hole if you screw around and blow a prime opportunity. It doesn't matter how you get them at this point, you just need wins this time of year. I will say, winning Game 1 doesn't really mean all that much if you turn around and then lose Game 2, so the job is by no means done for this team. They have to keep moving forward. But you could argue that what we saw and learned after this first game goes a long way in showing how this series might end up going.

We have a lot to get to, so let's just dive right in

The Good

- Imagine starting anywhere else. I think we are all hoping that this series is somewhat of a passing of the torch from Kevin Durant to Jayson Tatum. We already know the respect KD has for Tatum and what he thinks of his game

and that idea looks even better after this first game. The performance Jayson Tatum put on was exactly what you need from your franchise superstar and it's not even just about his game winner. It was everything

A huge key to this series is how efficient Tatum can be against a team that very clearly cannot guard him. Ime did a good job of finding ways to get Tatum the ball on mismatches, but it honestly didn't matter who they threw at Tatum, he got to his spots with ease. I'd say finishing 9-18 (3-7) while going 10-12 from the FT line is a pretty efficient night and exactly what the doctor ordered. What I loved about his performance was that early, Tatum was much more of a facilitator than a scorer. It didn't feel as though he was forcing anything offensively and instead was happy to make the right basketball read. That's not new, but I sure as shit appreciated it in a game like this. When your best player is doing that shit, it's contagious. 

But that's only half the story. What we are watching on a nightly basis is Jayson Tatum blossoming into a two way monster. One of the best two way wings in the entire fucking league if we're being honest. Why do I say that? You've heard of Kevin Durant right? The best player and scorer on the planet? Well on 38 possessions Jayson Tatum held KD to 4 points on 2-6 shooting. 

Read that fucking sentence again. 

So on one end, Tatum is giving the Nets an efficient 31/8, and then on the other end, he is limiting their franchise player and best player in the world to 4 goddamn points on 38 possessions. Can we not pretend like that's normal? It is such a luxury to be able to have Tatum bail this team out on both ends and I really can't stress that enough. You need a big bucket? Tatum's got you. You need someone to get a stop while guarding a 7 foot basketball alien? Tatum's got you. To see how far he's come is just so awesome and then you realize he's only going to keep getting better. Imagine not having a gigantic smile on your face right now, couldn't be me.

One thing to note here is that in the 4th quarter, the Nets basically sold out and doubled Tatum hard the second he came off that high screen as a pick and pop guy. Look for Ime's adjustment there because Tatum was pretty quiet for the majority of that fourth quarter. To have that happen and still win, man does that feel good.

- I talked a lot about what a difference this early series schedule could do for someone like Al Horford. If you look at how he shot the ball all year with 2+ days rest, the numbers are fantastic. Over 50% from the floor, over 45% from three, and if you weren't a believer before the series, does this by chance change your opinion?

I'd say I'm surprised but I'm not. This is who Playoff Al is. This is what Rested Al does. When he gets 2 days rest, he travels back in time and becomes 29 year old Al Horford. To say Al was great doesn't really do him justice. We all know Bruce Brown ran his mouth like a moron and Al clearly took it personally to the tune of 20/15/2 on 8-13 (2-2) shooting. That might have been his best game of the season all things considered and it couldn't happen at a better time. 

Not only was his box score great, but Al also did his part to own the interior defensively. After all that talk about being able to attack the rim because there was no Rob, the Nets only had 32 points in the paint yesterday. That's the 4th fewest total of their entire season. Nic Claxton/Bruce Brown/Andre Drummond had a combined 7 points against Al in a combined 56 possessions. It was a bloodbath. There were no easy buckets inside, just destruction. Not only that. but we saw Al hold his own on the perimeter as well! He had possessions staying with both KD and Kyrie on switches that resulted in 0 points. So when I say this may have been Al's best game of the year, I'm not exaggerating.

The beauty is now Al gets 2 more days off between Games 1 and 2, and then another 2 games off between Games 2 and 3. Is there any reason to believe this level of Al isn't sustainable when we have a fairly large body of work that a rested Al Horford is a legit weapon on both ends of the floor? 

- One of the biggest questions we all have about this team and this series is what do the Celtics do when they are put in high pressure late game situations. When they are faced with real adversity with real stakes. We got our first look yesterday

After a missed Smart three, KD made a jumper to go up 111-109 with 90 seconds left. It was a little deflating at the moment that even after coming all the way back after blowing a 15 point lead and getting down by as many as 5 in the fourth quarter, that the Nets still kept throwing punches.You get in late game situations against KD, you have to just assume he scores. 

What we saw over those final 90 seconds are why you can believe that this team is different now. They didn't wilt. They didn't have a woe is me mentality and sulk. They didn't play like idiots trying to make up for their mistakes with poor basketball decisions. They hunkered down and punched back. They executed in high pressure situations through good decision making and selfless basketball. I think most people were under the impression that if the Celts found themselves in a close game late in the fourth quarter against Kyrie and KD that they would ultimately fold.

Guess what? That's exactly the situation they found themselves in yesterday and they won. Suck on that.

- I cannot tell you how much loving and trusting I did yesterday. So much love and so much trusting it will make your head spin. As it so often does, that love and trust was validated

Remember, people said Marcus Smart was not the right point guard for this team. Not a good enough shooter, not a natural enough passer to fit next to the Jays, doesn't know his role and thinks he's better than he is. He was the problem. Do I have that all right?

YOU MORONS.

I don't know how else to say it. It was like people were refusing to watch what was right in front of their faces this entire season. Not just the last 3 months, but THE ENTIRE SEASON. It wasn't just the 8-17 (4-9) with some pretty massive threes late. It wasn't just the 6 assists and 7 rebounds. It wasn't just the DPOY doing DPOY things in his 36 minutes

and it wasn't just his game winning decision to pass the ball.

It's everything. A complete two way performance from their heart and soul. When the Celts needed a stop with the game on the line, who was there? Marcus.

When it came time to making the right play at the end, I won't lie and tell you I didn't think Smart was going to shoot. We all did. Tatum himself said it. With how much time was left on the clock, I thought after his pump fake we were going to get a little midrange pull up. Nope. Instead, he loved and trusted his teammate and I'd say things worked out just fine.

Did this look like a player who doesn't know or want to accept his role? Not to me it didn't and it hasn't been that way since October no matter how much the anti Smart people want to cry about that shit. You were wrong. We were right. Period.

- It may not have started off all that hot, but the Celtics do not win this game without the closing performance of Jaylen Brown. Just 8 points on 3-8 shooting in the first half, Jaylen looked a little off for sure. He was airballing threes, nothing looked all that close on his jumper, it was a little concerning for obvious reasons. But then the second half happened

15 huge points on 6-11 (1-2) shooting and a team best +9. In the fourth quarter when things looked real dicey, it was Jaylen that snapped this team out of their funk. In his 9:51 of fourth quarter minutes, Jaylen finished with 9 points on 4-7 shooting. His aggressiveness is what finally got them on the board and considering all other Celtics were just 4-13 in the fourth I'd say that was pretty important.

This all coming with him not being able to drink water while also gushing blood from his nose to the point where they had to stuff both nostrils. What a performance and I am sure he'll be happy to have 2 days off.

I also don't want to sleep on Jaylen's defense either. From what I can remember there weren't too many off ball mistakes, and when it came to his on ball defense he held his own. On 20 possessions against Kyrie he held him to just 6 points. Seth Curry was a non factor in his 15 possessions, finishing with just 3 points. Bruce Brown had 3 points on 11 possessions and KD only had 3 points on 9 possessions. Basically, the Celts two best players showed up and had themselves elite two way performances.

- It's not often you see KD go 9-24 from the floor, and even if this is the only time this series it happens, at least the Celts won that game. They have the unique versatility to throw all times of looks and bodies at KD and it clearly worked. Whether it's Tatum or Jaylen or Al or Smart, they were very physical with Durant off ball and it seemed to make him uncomfortable for at least a half. You're never going to keep KD down for a full 48, but that looks to be the gameplan. Be physical, push him off his spot, contest everything and let the chips fall where they may. 

- Celts dominated the glass 43-29, broke the 20 assist target number (24), owned the points in the paint 56-32, won the fastbreak points battle 21-17, as well has the 2nd chance points battle 18-11. Everywhere you looked they were better. That's not an accident.

- Listen, the Celts survived a game in which the Nets shot 53/45% from the floor. KD and Kyrie combined for over 60 points and the Nets role players shot way above their weight. Not only that, but the Nets even made all the huge late game buckets AND IT STILL WASN'T ENOUGH. 

I heard a lot of "well KD won't be this bad again, the Celts are screwed". OK, well, I don't think all that other stuff we saw is a lock to happen every game moving forward either. We all assumed KD/Kyrie would combine for an efficient 60+ points going into this series. That's what happened, and they still lost. 

- 20 lead changes and 12 ties. Not once did the Celts not punch back and they had to do it all night long. That was refreshing to see and has me excited moving forward. There is no backing down with this group and you saw it every time the Nets looked to maybe be making a run.

- We really only had 1 quarter of good defense, and it came in the 3rd. Holding the Nets to just 24 points on 47/25% shooting is what got the Celts their initial lead, so if we could duplicate that for a full 48 minutes that would be fantastic. Even with KD starting to heat up, the Celts still were able to extend their lead, that is not lost on me.

The Bad

- Can we make a layup? Please. I am begging. We know the Nets provide zero resistance when it comes to preventing any Celtic from getting to the rim with ease. I am just begging them to stop missing all of their point blank layups or putbacks. I mean look at this shit

What an insane picture. So if Nets fans want to tell me KD won't suck again, well I'm pretty sure the Celtics won't miss so many layups. Look at that shit! You don't see a lot of teams win when they are that brutal right at the rim. How many times did we see Daniel Theis with a wide open right handed put back that he left short? Jaylen missing right handed layups, Al missing putback dunks, you could make the case that it is impossible to be worse around the rim than the Celts were in Game 1. They caught a prayer there no two ways about it.

- Look, I know everyone hates Kyrie. I know he plays a role in how all this bullshit is going. But I also know that it didn't really take him out of the game like many Celts fans want to believe. If anything, it empowered him. I'm not saying cheer the guy, but I'm not totally sold that booing him and all that shit is going to help. Unless this was his one god like game of the series and that's it. He seems to revel in the hate and accept it which makes him an all time villain, but let's also not pretend like he didn't give this team the absolute business in the 4th quarter. He singlehandedly almost won this game by himself. That 11 point lead heading into the final frame was gone in about two seconds once Kyrie started to make his threes. He is a big moment shot maker when he's playing for every team but Boston apparently. 

This is the fear when playing the Nets. Either KD or Kyrie is capable of that type of performance in a single quarter where they are so locked in and reach a level offensively where nothing you do on the defensive end matters. Eventually they figured it out, but there was no resistance to Kyrie for the majority of that fourth quarter. That was a bit concerning. 

- Rough night for some of the role guys. I didn't think Grant was all that good in his minutes, especially when he wasn't giving much from three. Theis had a pretty brutal night as well which he was probably due for given how much he's been overachieving as of late.

With Derrick White, I thought he was mostly OK, but I have a few gripes. First, I want him to know that it's OK to take a wide open uncontested layup if that opportunity presents itself. You don't need to kick it to the perimeter for a three. Just take the points. Then, in the fourth quarter, I have no problem with the idea to probe the defense and penetrate off the dribble. But if you're going to scan the baseline, I need you to not step on the line. He does that a lot to be honest and I need him to cut it out. Love the approach and the idea, hate the execution.

- If the Celtics are going to win this series, they need to resist the urge to rely on home run knock out punches. That's how you get into trouble and we saw it in Game 1. They got their lead and went for homeruns. It's OK to beat this team with paper cuts. The right play sometimes trumps the big play. Possessions are so valuable and points are such a premium, that when you allow yourself to try and fall into bad habits and hit homeruns rather than singles, it's how you give the Nets new life. KD and Kyrie are too efficient offensively to have those type of empty possessions.

The Ugly

- Turnovers. A total of 15 as a team is too many. Tatum had 5, and the Smart/Brown/Tatum trio had 10 between them. The Nets are one of the best teams in the NBA at scoring off turnovers, so the Celts did catch a bit of a prayer here as well. This team cannot stop you defensively, so just don't turn the ball over. Make them actually get stops.

- We all thought the same thing watching that fourth quarter. It looked like the 2021 Celtics collapse that plagued the early part of their year. You knew right away too. A couple easy Nets buckets, Celts missing threes early, the lead was down to a single possession before you could blink, all with KD on the bench. That was horrendous

All they had to do was not be horrific and we don't have to sweat the thing 12 minutes. Instead, they chose to be horrific and we needed some late game heroics just to pull it out in a game they were once leading by 15 points. That's not great. 

At the same time, they did enough to win, so maybe they're now able to build off this. We got the collapse, but it didn't kill them. Maybe things really are different in 2022.

So now we wait. Two more days until Game 2, and that's about as must win as it gets at this point in a series. Heading to BKN up 2-0 would be a massive, massive deal. You find yourself able to steal one of those on the road and the entire vibe of the series changes. If they drop Game 2, the same is true in the opposite direction. The Celts have a chance to step on some necks, and I need to see them do just that.

What a game. What a win. What a team. LFG.