Who's to blame for Celtics' lack of focus in Game 1?
Despite the loss, the effort of Jayson Tatum in Game 1 should not be overlooked. Tatum led Boston in points (39) and rebounds (11), while also dishing out five assists and only turning the ball over once. Tatum was the only Celtics starter to have fewer than two turnovers.
Tatum had a monster first half, as he poured in 26 first-half points, which was a playoff career high for a first half. Twenty of Tatum’s 26 first-half points came in the second quarter, as he scored or assisted on nine of Boston’s 11 buckets.
On the night, Tatum finished 14-of-25 (56%) from the field and 4-of-5 (80%) from three. Tatum also added seven points at the free-throw line, where he was 7-of-8. For reference, Tatum shot an average of just 45.3% in Boston’s first-round series against the Hawks.
One of the reasons Tatum was able to be so efficient was because of his aggressive play on offense. The star forward scored 14 points in the restricted area, where he shot 7-of-11 (63.6%).
Tatum is a dangerous player when he gets downhill and attacks the basket, and we got a glimpse of that in Game 1. Good things happen when Tatum gets downhill, so look for Tatum to continue his aggressive play throughout the entirety of this series with the 76ers, especially with Joel Embiid out.
The Celtics aren’t going to lose many games in which Tatum scores 39 points on 56% shooting and the team as a whole shoots 58.7%. Tatum needs to set the tone with his aggressive play early in Game 2, on both ends of the floor. So long as the Celtics show some intensity and can get out of their own way, they should be just fine in Game 2.
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