You may have lost radio transmission while driving into the Callahan Tunnel late Saturday afternoon. Maybe the power went out in your house, you dropped your iPhone at precisely the wrong time, or maybe you heard some depressing words from Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and simply didn’t want to hear anything else.
WHAT THE FACT TAKES TO THE BANK IS THIS: The Celtics opened their best-ever Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 112-99 win over the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden.
This, too, is fact: The Celtics jumped out to a 30-point lead during a celebratory first half, then put the Hawks back in the game in the second half.
And this: when asked after the game if he was “worried” about what happened in the second half, Mazzola said: “I am very worried.” This is the answer part before the loss in the Callahan Tunnel, and we must pause here to point out that the coach spoke with a high level of solemnity, adding such dramatic flourishes to his words, The American Repertory Theater in Cambridge should examine this man.
Because it was a whole rib. Mazzola sold his answer so much that the reporter who asked the question felt compelled to say, “Seriously…”
Mazzulla, perhaps sensing that it might be best to put that horse back into the barn lest New England lose its night’s sleep quickly, quickly replied, “No, no, I’m not worried at all. I mean this team has done great all season. It’s going to happen.” What’s really good is that we went through it, we had to feel that, and it’s important to learn from it. So for us to be able to win and at the same time know we can play better is good.”
Mazola is right, of course. It’s all about the 16 watts if you want to win an NBA championship, and so far, there’s only one loss, 15 left.
Certainly, the Celtics have seen their share of second-half leads melt into the snow over the winter. That means the second half of Game 1, with the Falcons closing within 12 points in the fourth quarter, should be good, and here we are again, worrisome. However, it may be a good idea to side with the coach on this matter. This is partly because no one working with the Atlanta Hawks genuinely believes Boston will blow this, but also because it just didn’t make sense for the Celtics to play four quarters with the same intensity they showed in the first two.
If that was a statement the Celtics wanted to make, they certainly succeeded. The second half didn’t change that. Heck, the game seem With a statement, Jaylen Brown steals and then rolls a pose.
“Setting the pace on defense is going to be key, and I was just telling them it’s going to be a long night,” said Brown, who led the Celtics in scoring with 29.
Jason Tatum’s Show: “We’ve Been in Love From the Beginning” Even if, well, they weren’t all in love in the end.
But Tatum, who scored 25 points, made an excellent point: “We didn’t loses lead,” he said, noting that the Celtics led by 30 points in the first half and then the Falcons carved out that lead in the fourth quarter. But the Celtics never Lost Leadership.
If this little lawyer’s dribbling by Tatum wasn’t enough to calm the nerves of Celtics fans who wanted four-quarter dominance, let’s maybe talk about aesthetics. Let’s talk about ballet. The Celtics were so excellent and eloquent right out of the gate in this, the first half of Joe Mazzola Era’s first postseason game, that the entire 24 minutes could have been deployed as a unique starting point. Well, I’ll admit it’s too soon to go all-caps E with “era”, but it’s not too early to look at that first as a forerunner of what’s to come, even if the second half is a sobering reminder, like if anyone needs one, it won’t be Anything easy.
The Celtics’ most talked about game in that crazy first half? Make a selection. For the symbolism and perfect compliance with it all, go with Brown’s post-National anthem steal. There was Malcolm Brogdon handing a bouncing pass through some serious rush hour traffic to Robert Willians III for an easy layup. There was Derrick White collecting a rebound off his missed shot, knocking it down for a second, recovering it, and kicking it to Marcus Smart, who threw in a 3-pointer.
As for Mr. Robert Williams III, he successfully blocked Jalen Johnson’s shot and collected the ball with one stroke. The video of this cluster has already been sent to Pluto and returned as you’re reading this.
“We lost our offensive target,” Mazzola remarked, but they did not lose a game. And to borrow again from Jason Tatum, they haven’t lost the lead.
And yes, the first half will leave a mark with the Falcons. Celtics were good.
If there’s real horror, it’s after the game he talks about those five stitches on his right hand.
“I split in the game, but it’s okay now,” he said. “I think it will be fine. Let’s take a look at it tomorrow.”
Message to Celtics fans: Don’t worry about the second half. But watch the five stitches.
(Photo by Jaylen Brown: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)