When Joe Mazzulla was asked what the coaching points would be against Cleveland, nothing changed from the previous series.
“I think they are the same,” Mazzulla said.
“Working the shot margin.” Check (92-90).
“Taking care of the ball.” Check (Just nine turnovers).
“Rebounding.” Big check (55-38 advantge).
“The team that plays the hardest usually wins,” Mazzulla added. “Pay attention to detail, toughness, effort, execution. Those are the most important things.”
In Game 1 against the Cavaliers, the Celtics did all of those things, resulting in a 120-95 win, with Boston trailing for just 18 seconds. The win marked Boston’s fifth double-digit win this season and improved the Celtics’ average margin of victory this postseason to an NBA-best +17.2
Additionally, the 25-point win marked Boston’s 19th by 25 or more points this season, setting a new NBA record.
“Just our will to continue to play,” Mazzulla said on what he liked about the performance. “Just play through mistakes, play through some tough shot-making, through physicality. I thought there were some stretches of really good offensive organization. I thought the guys made some really good rim-reads, and we defended without fouling.”
At times, it didn’t feel like a playoff game. Likely because Cleveland never stood a chance. The Cavaliers, without big man Jarrett Allen, had no answers for the Kristaps Porzingis-less Celtics.
Even when they held their own, shooting 13-of-26 (50%) from the field and 6-of-12 (50%) from deep in the first quarter, they found themselves trailing by six because Boston put up 40 points on 13-of-24 (54.2%) shooting.
In the second quarter, they held Boston to just 19 points on 8-of-25 (32.0%) shooting from the field and 3-of-12 (25.0%) from deep. That didn’t matter either because Boston held them to 15 points on 6-of-23 (26.1%) shooting from the field and 2-of-10 (20%) from deep. And as a result, they trailed by 10 at the half, a deficit that was never cut back to single digits.
“The game was closer because we weren’t really making shots. They were scoring. Very early in the game, we gave up a lot of baskets,” Jaylen Brown said after the game.
“I think what allowed the game to open up is that we kept defending, and then the shots started going in. So, defense - being able to get stops - allows us to play the kind of lifestyle that we want in this. Shots, get up threes. But we weren’t getting those stops in the first half, or at least in the first quarter. And that’s why the game was a lot closer.”
Whatever Cleveland did, Boston did better, and the scary thing is – the Celtics were not at their best.
“Yeah, I think so,” Mazzulla said after the game when asked if he believes the Celtics can reach another level. “I think both ends of the floor. I think if you want to get to where you want to get to against teams like this, you can always fight for another level.”
To say a team can play far better after a 25-point victory seems asinine. However, that is the beauty of the 2023-24 Boston Celtics. They stay true to their commitment to winning every day, focusing on every detail without cutting corners.
True to form, they didn’t get caught up in the Game 1 blowout, swiftly turning their attention to Wednesday’s practice, eager to keep getting better.
“I’m excited for tomorrow and how we can learn and get better,” Derrick White said. “I think there’s a lot we did bad and that we need to get better at.”
Game 1 was a reminder of why the 2023-24 Celtics are so special and are considered the title favorites. Here are five takeaways from the win.
Jayson Tatum’s “off” night
Staying with the theme of how the Celtics could be better, it starts with their superstar, Jayson Tatum.
Tatum finished the night with 18 points on 7-of-19 (36.8%) shooting. The five-time All-Star is averaging 21.2 points this postseason, his lowest postseason mark in four years, on a career-worst 40.6% shooting from the field and 25.0% from deep.
It’s an unfortunate time for the shooting slump for Tatum, which he is bound to shake out of soon. However, Tatum’s shooting struggles haven’t been as detrimental to the Celtics as they might have been in the past.
Part of that is a testament to the wealth of talent up and down the roster. The other part is the growth of Tatum’s game. Tatum isn’t defined strictly as a scorer anymore. That was evident in Game 1.
The All-NBA forward led the team with 11 rebounds and shared the team-high with five assists. With a +18 plus-minus on Wednesday, Tatum boosted his postseason total to +96, leading the NBA.
“We got a really talented team,” Tatum said on being able to win even when he’s not at his best. “[It] shows the depth of our team and how we can win games in a lot of different ways.”
Regardless of the shooting struggles, Tatum still demands attention. He’s making significant contributions in different aspects of the game, which is exactly what fans have hoped for.
“I thought he played an overall well-rounded game. His passing, his screening, allowed for those other guys to get open looks,” Mazzulla said postgame. “Success will look different every night for each player. But at the end of the day, you can’t be defined by one thing, and you gotta compete at both ends of the floor.”
Jaylen Brown sets the tone
Jaylen Brown has been playing the best basketball of his career, and that has continued in the postseason.
The three-time All-Star came out aggressive in Game 1, scoring seven of Boston’s first 10 points, which got Paul Pierce, sitting courtside, and the rest of the Garden crowd on their feet early.
In the fourth quarter, Brown pushed the ball up the floor, hit Evan Mobley with a jab-step, and fired an above-the-break three. Before the ball had touched the net, Brown was jogging back on defense. He was feeling it.
“I had it rolling tonight,” Brown said after the game before quickly shifting focus to the next challenge. “But each and every game presents different challenges. I’m excited for Game 2, come out with the same mentality. But you got to see how they might guard you - might cover you. You just want to come out, make the right plays, the right reads. That’s all it is. Just playing through your teammates and playing with confidence.”
Brown finished the night with a team-high 32 points on a very efficient 12-of-18 (66.7%) shooting from the field and 4-of-6 (66.7%) from deep, with six rebounds, two assists, and a block.
“He takes a ton of pride in just growing as a player. Every year, every game, every day. He spends a lot of time on it. He’s not afraid to go after something that he knows that he can improve on, which I think is huge for his growth mindset,” Mazzulla said on Brown.
“He has evolved. His ability to pick and choose his spots, when to play in transition. He had a couple of times when he scored in transition, and two plays later, he slowed it down, went into the pick-and-roll, and made the right play. I think the growth with him, even if he scores six or eight in a row, he gets into the paint and [makes the] pass [on the] next one. So, he’s grown as a player, and it’s helped us, and he’s playing big stretches for us. It’s important.”
Brown has shown tremendous growth this season on both ends of the floor, living up to every penny of the supermax contract he signed over the offseason.
“Just year after year, things continue to slow down for him,” Tatum said on Brown’s growth. “I see every day the work that he puts in on the court and watching film to study those reads and things like that.”
Luke Kornet, bench provides a boost
After snatching his eighth rebound of the first half, prying the ball away from Donovan Mitchell and Isaac Okoro, Kornet turned towards the Celtics’ bench and began barking. The crowd responded with a standing ovation and chants of “Luuuuuke.”
Such a reaction was well-deserved.
Building on his solid performance in Boston’s Game 5 victory over the Heat, Kornet once again proved to be a game-changer in Game 1, finishing with four points, 10 boards, and a pair of assists and blocks. Six of his 10 rebounds came on the offensive glass, while Cleveland, as a team, had just seven offensive rebounds.
“I thought Luke was exceptional when he came in; he was great,” Jaylen Brown said postgame.
“He came in [and] he added value to the second group. He contested shots at the rim, he rebounded, and he made timely plays on offense. And he’s been working all year. He’s had some injuries, up and down, but Luke has been tremendous for our team, and he brings great energy. We need him to continue to do that, step up, keep it on a roll, and continue to make plays; that’s huge.”
The 7-foot-2 Vanderbilt product finished tied for the game-high with nine contested shots, providing excellent rim protection.
“Tremendous,” Joe Mazzulla said on Kornet’s contributions. “Him, Payton, X, Sam, those guys. Great minutes by all those guys. Luke started that off. But it goes back to moments of the regular season. You can’t be a good team unless those guys win you games. And they’ve all played a huge part in winning games. Whether it’s four in five nights or back-to-backs, it doesn’t matter — they bring it. And it’s important to have guys like that, and I thought Luke’s presence was big for us tonight.”
Boston’s bench was once again a bright spot. Payton Pritchard finished with 16 points off the bench to lead all reserves, while Sam Hauser finished with a game-high +22 despite not scoring and taking only one shot. Even Xavier Tillman saw real rotation minutes early in the second quarter and contributed with three rebounds and a bucket in just over three minutes of play.
It starts on defense
Outside of Donovan Mitchell, who scored 33 points on 12-of-25 (48.0%) shooting from the field and 4-of-11 (36.4%) from deep, the Cavs had nothing going offensively. Without Mitchell, Cleveland shot 25-of-65 (38.4%) from the field and 7-of-31 (22.5%) from deep, totaling just 62 points.
The Celtics have held their opponents to less than 100 points in four consecutive playoff games, marking the longest such streak in the NBA since 2019 Toronto Raptors.
“Just hanging our hat on the defense end,” Jaylen Brown said after the game. “It’s gotta be nonnegotiable. We don’t want to get into trading baskets with teams; we want to get stops, and I think (when) you get stops, that allows you to jack up and put up as many threes as you want, and that’s what we want to do. But we gotta get stops. We can’t let teams just trade baskets, and we got enough defenders on our team to do that.”
Boston is surrendering just 92.7 points per game this postseason on 43.3% shooting from the field and 31.6% from deep. Since Miami knocked down a franchise-record of 23 three-pointers against Boston in Game 2 last series, Boston’s opponents have shot 32-of-132 (24.2%) from beyond the arc.
Three-point barrage
After the Celtics shot 6-of-22 (27.3%) from three-point range in the first half, Jrue Holiday knocked down a triple on the wing to open the second-half scoring for Boston.
Apparently, the Celtics only needed to see one fall.
Behind four made threes from Derrick White, who finished the night with 25 points and seven made threes, the Celtics shot 12-of-24 (50%) from distance in the second half, which buried Cleveland.
White is only the fourth player in NBA playoff history to make seven or more three-pointers in consecutive games, joining Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Desmond Bane. The 29-year-old has knocked down 28 triples this postseason on a blistering 50% shooting.
With the win, the Celtics advanced to 59-7 when making the same number or more threes as their opponents.
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