1. Boston Celtics 2023 NBA Playoffs Jogging is a good start. Sure, the Atlanta Hawks It made it an interesting semi in the second half, but Boston was never in control after the halfway point in the first quarter.
This was kind of a throwback to the Celtics’ 2022 style of play. Boston’s defense was elite, as they held Atlanta to just under 39%. The Celtics guarded the arc very well, by staying connected to Trae Young and leaving the lesser archers open. When the Hawks came in, the Celtics were there to challenge the shots again and again.
As for offense, the best way to describe Boston’s approach is to beat things up. The Falcons were expected to have an advantage in the paint, but in Game 1 the Celtics compared them to 54 points in the paint. In no time was Boston settling for three-pointers. They took 33 triples, but most of them were off drive and kick plays as the defense was in rotation. Overall, a whopping 30 of Boston’s 33 three-point attempts were rated open or wide open.
It all came about because Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum set the tone early on that they would get to the edge whenever they wanted. With the Atlanta Amendment, some of those drives have turned into ejections for pitchers.
In many ways, Game 1 played out as expected. The Falcons simply don’t have the defensive talent to slow the Celtics down. And if Boston were to defend this way, Atlanta couldn’t score efficiently enough to make it a series.
2. Jaylen Brown had some issues with the cut on his right hand, and he said it reopened during the match. This caused some occasional handling and passing errors. But for the most part, Brown played it well. He got his shots in with little trouble.
This Eurostep was very quick here:
Atlanta has had crossover games in transition a lot in this game. In this, Brown drew Onyeka Okongwu. Instead of forcing the drive, Brown used an evasive chain drive to come up with a nice step back:
Marcus Smart’s patience here was remarkable. He lifts the break to let Brown spin it around. And as they did repeatedly in the second half of the season, Smart found Brown breaking through the back door:
This is pure logging craft. John Collins comes up with a nice bar, but the Browns get the ball back. He does not lunge on the second shot. Instead, he hits the spot and Collins works for a finish that would make Kevin McHale proud:
Again, a great Brown graphic here. This time it’s Clint Capella. We mentioned in the series preview that Capela isn’t as good a watchdog of the ocean as it used to be. Brown puts it well before punching a birdie over it:
3. The Hawks don’t have good answers for guard Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum. Dejounte Murray is their only good defender on the ball, as De’Andre Hunter hasn’t quite developed as hoped in the role.
In Game 1, Murray caught Tatum a lot. Instead of playing with the ball, Tatum used his size advantage. Tatum is very big and very good at this:
This Aquarius came on Hunter, but it’s the same thing. It’s also a good example of how Boston uses its seniors as facilitators:
With a couple of guys lurking in quarters for help, Tatum uses his size and leverage to shoot Murray here:
The spacing is a little messy here, but the process is great. Tatum and Derrick White run a pick-and-roll to capture the key. Tatum goes straight to the block. White doesn’t have the pass, but Rob Williams does. The result is an easy profit for Tatum in the blog post:
This is Boston’s last shot of the first half. It’s a good example of the pressure the Celtics put on a not-so-subtle Hawks defense. There’s no reason for John Collins to shy away from Jason Tatum here, nor for Murray to fall for Wyatt after he checked out. The result was somewhat predictable:
4. Derek White is awesome. We can end it there very hard with no consent. But we’ll show you why anyway.
Tra Young dies on screen. Big sticks with Rob Williams at the table. White pulls up for the three:
The young man dies on screen. Big drops. White pulls up for the three:
This is the Hawks’ rare good rebound, but they let White lead the shutout and then lost Marcus Smart in the late cut:
The Hawks directly switches this action on screen. White overflows with confidence at this point, so he kicks off the dribble over John Collins:
No idea what Atlanta is doing here. Bogdan Bogdanović seems to think that he and Bey’s boyfriend have changed. Bey seems to think it was a hedge and recovers. White does not hesitate and punishes their confusion:
5. Falcons have a good size advantage indoors. But the Celtics very successfully protected the edge in Game 1. Boston collected seven blocks and had a few other big plays around the basket as well.
Derek White took his Night at the Edge collection out of the way way too soon:
Sometimes a block can be described as “erasing a shot” and that’s exactly what Rob Williams did here:
Marcus Smart read this entire play right out of Atlanta. And then he made the play on the edge to break Loeb:
And late in the fourth quarter, Marcus Smart delivered one of Marcus Smart’s signature plays in transition:
6. Rob Williams looked as good in Game 1 as he has been all season. He was a devastating force in defense. On offense, Williams gave Boston that vertical element that only he brings.
This is a group called by Joe Mazola. In the end, Jason Tatum is like a quarterback. He just throws the ball knowing Williams will come up and get it:
Poor Galen Johnson. He misses the shot to start this segment, he’s the only one back. There’s no good choice here, but it goes to Jaylen Brown, who dances to Rob:
Al Horford was given a second chance for Boston. Derrick White didn’t rush and then remarked to Williams with only Trae Young near him at the edge:
Smart missed this first shot, but his rant gave us Rob’s highlight:
7. Al Horford had one of the highest six-point, nine-rebound games you will ever see. He was an advocate and activist first. And he was just great in the role. But when the Falcons were still hanging around, it was Horford who buried three needy ones to keep them at bay:
8. It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine for Boston. They let go of the rope for a long time in the second half of the match. After scoring 45 points in the second quarter, the Celtics scored only 38 points in the entire second half.
A big part of that was sloppy with the ball on offense. Boston turned it over eight times in the second half, and it led to some easy going sets for Atlanta. Five of those gifts came in the third quarter, when the Falcons found some life.
Now, on the plus side, even though the Celtics offense was chaotic in the second half, they held it through the fourth quarter. They held the Falcons to less than 35% shooting in the fourth quarter. This is the type of elite defense that can win a title.
9. On the face of it, recoil looked like a problem for Boston. Atlanta grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. But more context is needed than just this figure.
The Celtics had an NBA-leading defensive rebound rate of 78.5%. A large part of the reason the Falcons had 14 offensive boards is because they missed 60 total shots in the game.
The other noteworthy bit of context: Despite creating 14 second chances, Atlanta scored only 12 second chance points.
It wasn’t an ideal rebounding night for the Celtics, but most of the Hawks’ offensive slate came as a result of size versus true dominance on the glass. And Boston cleaned things up on the second shot more often than not.
10. For a team still dealing with some bumps and bruises, and relying heavily on Al Horford, Boston would welcome two days off before Game Two. They’ll get some rest and work to clean up some of the neglect that’s been done to them after building up the massive lead.
Overall, the 2023 playoffs are off to a great start for the Celtics. We’ll see on Tuesday if they can go 2-0 up before heading to Atlanta.