As much of an issue as Boston's Game 1 turnover total was, it doesn't tell the full story of the Celtics' struggles in that area. That's because one player inflated Boston's total to 16.
Despite a few out-of-control plays, Marcus Smart only turned the ball over twice. Same thing with Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Derrick White. Robert Williams also had two, but Boston's other two reserves who played in Game 1, Malcolm Brogdon and Sam Hauser, didn't have a single turnover to their name.
That leaves six turnovers and one player unaccounted for.
Yes, he led the Celtics with 29 points on an efficient 12-for-23 shooting (52.2%), but Jaylen Brown also had a team-high six turnovers in Game 1 vs. the Hawks.
Saturday marked the seventh time Brown has turned the ball over six or more times since the start of the regular season. It's also his second-highest turnover total in a playoff game in his career, having previously turned the ball over seven times twice (both occurrences came in 2022).
The difference between this game and all the others: Saturday's win was Brown's first game back since his right hand got stitched up. Certainly an issue that cannot be ignored — and his hand did "split open" mid-game — but his strong shooting was consistent throughout the afternoon.
"It's a constant adjustment, you know, making sure I get a good grip on the ball," Brown said of his injured hand. "I had six turnovers tonight, so I definitely got to clean it up."
While his injury didn't help, Brown's scoring output alone proves his hand issue was not the sole cause of his turnovers. He averaged a career-high 2.9 per game throughout the regular season after averaging 3.1 per game in Boston's 2022 run to the NBA Finals. In that stretch, Brown logged multiple turnovers in all but three of the Celtics' 24 playoff games — and in 10 of those performances, he logged four-plus.
If Joe Mazzulla isn't already accounting for that problem, he better start.
