Celtics Lose Game 1 By A Single Fucking Point

Greenie 4/17/2016 12:59 PM

I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. That one stings. This one really really stings. By no means is this series over, in fact, far from it, but when the goal is to take at least one of the first two and game one is usually the one to get it, losing like this is tough.

What we saw last night basically was a carbon copy to what you read on this website on Friday. Atlanta came out and played exactly how you should have thought they would. The good news is, the Celtics hung with that. Even in a loss, a performance like this still should give you a bit of confidence. Look at it like this. Last time they were up 12 and blew it..this time they led with 6 min to go, next time they probably win it. That’s how things work.

Where the frustration comes from is that in the playoffs, you can’t drop games like this. Wins are too hard to come by. If this was a regular season loss, whatever, but it’s not, so it does give you a little more reason for caution. Just remember, you don’t truly panic until you lose at home.

So what has to change for the tide to turn in Game 2?

Let’s see.

The Good

– If the balance of this series now lives with Marcus Smart, I’m completely fine with that if we are going to be getting the Marcus Smart of last night. He was everywhere, per usual. His night: 5-10 shooting (3-6 from deep) 5 rebounds (3 OREB) 2 assists 2 steals 1 block and just 1 turnover was a huge part of the reason their comeback was possible. Marcus was a team high +6.

I saw on Twitter a lot of people didn’t like his 3PA with 1:29 left in the game, but I had no problem with it. Smart had been 3-5 heading into that shot, and it was a clean look. Yes I know he’s had the worst shooting season of all time, but you ride the hot hand.

Moving forward, Smart is now the most important player for the Celtics in this series. Huge moment for us in the Pro Smart camp. What we saw from him last night is encouraging.

– I talked about how Avery is a tough matchup for Atlanta, and he proved that to be true. Avery’s shooting struggled from deep, but his 18 points kept the Celts around. By far his biggest impact came when he matched up on Jeff Teague. Complete and utter shut down. Avery stuck to him like glue, which if you’ve watched Teague play, is incredibly hard to do.

This is probably the worst part of Avery’s injury. Huge huge blow.

– There is something to be said about this team’s ability to make these crazy comebacks. No lead is ever safe, and there’s some substance to that. Celtics should have been blown out last night, and instead, they clawed their way back. Who do you think feels better, Celtics or teams like HOU or DAL?

The Celtics got back into this game, because they got back to playing their style of basketball. Look at their shot chart. They played defense, and went to the paint. Not a hard concept.

Led by the Tacoma Twins (Isaiah 8 points, Avery 7 points) the Celts came out and shot 52% while holding Atlanta to just 6-20 shooting. Add in Turner’s 8 points and the third quarter was the blueprint for how to win Game 2. The Celtics were able to flip the script, and once the Hawks shooting started to even out, so did the Celts.

A big part of their comeback was they finally scored in transition. After 0 fast break points at the half, the Celts finished the game with 15. This shows you not only did they play better defense, but they finally got to play their style of play.

– The next time someone wants to doubt the slow 1st = great 3rd Theory, you have permission to slap them in the face. Again, I have no idea why this is a thing, but it is 100% a guarantee. Every. Single. Time.

– Coming off a tough first half for Isaiah, the guy stepped it up in the seconded half. Isaiah was 6-13 (4-7 form deep) for 21 points 2 rebounds 5 assists and 0 turnovers in his 18 second half minutes. Don’t let the narrative be that Isaiah didn’t step up when it mattered. He was huge down the stretch of this game, and without him, the Celts get destroyed.

Atlanta still dos not have an answer for Isaiah, that’s another reason you should feel OK about this series. Teague certainly couldn’t stop him (DRtg of 107), and once Isaiah got into the paint things changed, and once he started to make some threes, the Celtics were a completely different team.

– The Celts did a fantastic job on Kyle Korver. Holding a shooter like that to 1-10 and 2 points is absolutely insane. He didn’t make a three. Maybe there is some truth to his playoff struggles. While I think there’s no chance in hell he shoots THIS poorly again in the series, if he’s going to be human, that’s a huge win for the Celtics.

– Also, it should be mentioned that Millsap was held in check for the most part. Just 14/7 from him with a DRtg of 101 is what I’d call the best case scenario for a player of his caliber. Such an improvement from last Saturday.

The Bad

– The Celtics start to this basketball game was everything we as fans hoped it wouldn’t be. Jump shot city. It’s as if no one on the team read Friday’s fucking blog. This was the exact strategy Atltant was hoping for. I mean look at this, even the shots the Celtics made were contested long jumpers. Just two makes in the paint.

We hear the Celts talk about not getting off to such bad starts, but in looking at why it happens, is anyone surprised? Jae didn’t take a shot from closer than 22 feet in his first 5 attempts. Only a third of Sullinger’s attempts came from the paint, the Celtics didn’t really run an offense in those first 12 minutes. When it was all said and done the Celts shot 7-25 (26.9%) to start, and found themselves in a 30-19 hole. So not only were they not shooting the ball, they weren’t playing defense either.

– Kent Bazemore is becoming a real problem. That is a real sentence that I had to type.

– Ok…Avery’s injury. This is a devastating blow, I mean devastating. He’s saying he heard a pop, and I’m ready to declare him cooked. At least for a majority of this series. Not only does that suck, but this is something that will probably linger for the entire playoff run. You can’t fuck with hamstrings. Losing Bradley hurts not only because of his elite defense, but what he brings to the Celts offense. He opens the floor up well, he’s basically our best first quarter scorer, and you can rely on him to make tough shots in tight situations


Cooked.

– Isaiah Thomas is a career 86% FT shooter. Given the situation, you cannot miss those 2 FTs. You just can’t. Lose a game 102-101 with that shit happening makes me fucking sick.

– Once the Celtics took the lead at 86-84 with 5:52 to go, we then saw Evan Turner with a horrific cross court pass for a turnover, followed up by a missed jumper, followed by Isaiah missing a FT, followed by Amir somehow falling down and losing the ball on a handoff, and all the sudden, 3 minutes later, the Celts found themselves down 92-88. The Celtics had a chance to close this game out, and instead, they turned the ball over. The Celtics would never recover or even tie the game again after this sequence. In looking back, this is where the Celts lost the game. That 3 minute stretch.

The Ugly

– Just like the series against CLE last year, a tam is shooting 35 FTs against the Celtics. Now a handful of those came at the end of the game, but I’ve never seen in my life a team get into the bonus so quickly. Getting 3 fouls in 52 seconds to open the second half, being in the bonus with 10 minutes to go, is simply a joke. All of them coming 40ft from the basket. You can’t tell me that the Celtics were doing anything different than Atlanta in terms of their on ball defense, yet Celts couldn’t do anything without a whistle. A 32-20 foul difference is nothing to sneeze at, and it’s no surprise there was a 35-19 FT difference.

Now I’m not saying the refs blew this game, I’m saying the Celtics can’t foul like this. Especially on the road. While there’s no denying that the FTs kept the Hawks in this game, for the Celtics to win Game 2 they are going to have to defend much better without fouling. Maybe things even out, but they probably won’t.

– This is a travel.

– Those stupid lime yellow shirts in the crowd. Fucking Atlanta is the worst.

 

All in all, this game can be summed up as a heartbreaker, and while confident, Game 2 has become a lot harder. With a healthy Avery I think we all feel a little bit better, but that’s out the window. If the Celtics can just play half as good to start the game as they do in the third quarter, we’ll be OK. Chances are they aren’t going to miss 40 shots in a half too many more times.

This series is going 7, and a win on Tuesday changes the whole narrative of the series. I know teams that lose Game 1 are usually in a tough spot, but hey as we like to say, when do the Celtics ever take the easy way?

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