Kemba Walker's defense, a potential Raptors tweak and more takeaways from Game 1

After a second look at the Celtics' Game 1 win over the Raptors, let's take a look at some below the radar developments that should impact the remainder of this series

1. Kemba Walker playing both ways: This isn’t exactly a new development for the All-Star point guard but it needs to be re-emphasized in this series: Walker isn’t a liability on defense. In Game 1, he was a net positive for Boston, helping limit Fred VanVleet to 3-of-16 shooting from the field in one of his worst shooting outings of the year. The consistent effort from Walker was on display as he stayed attached to the high scoring guard for the majority of his 32 minutes. VanVleet shot just 0-of-5 from the field against Walker when they were matched up in the half court, with the rest of his misses coming largely from 3-point range in transition or against bigs on switches. Walker’s defensive discipline was strong all night as well as his IQ. He closed out tremendously well on all of the Raptors shooters (25 percent from 3), preventing wide-open looks by anticipating kick-out passes. He also drew the sole Celtics charge of the game on Pascal Siakam in transition in the fourth quarter.

The defense isn’t what the Celtics brought Walker here for but it’s probably reason No. 1 why this postseason is far different from the Boston team that also won their first five postseason games last year. A good defense needs all five guys locked in and despite his size limitations, Walker’s doing his job and doing it well. Toronto didn’t get in any real rhythm all night in the half court and a lot of that is a tribute to Walker holding up well against picks at the point of attack. Brad Stevens could have tried to hide him against a low usage guy like OG Anunoby in this series. Instead, he took the challenge head-on against the Raptors guards and the Celtics defense was far better off for it.

This comes in addition to Walker being the best offensive player on the floor yesterday. He set the table masterfully with his actions in the pick-and-roll, taking advantage of the Raptors switches and over helping to dish out 10 assists on top of his 18 points on 11 shots. It would have been many more assists if Boston didn’t miss so many bunnies on top of it. With the Raptors putting Kyle Lowry on Jayson Tatum, Walker needs to be a top-tier offensive player in this series for Boston and he was just that in Game 1. There aren’t really any easy answers for Toronto in defending him when they have a big on the floor that can be thrown into the pick-and-roll, which brings us to our next takeaway.

2. The Raptors might need to go small more often to give themselves a chance in this series: The Raptors defense is elite but they were still lucky to only give up 112 points in Game 1. The Celtics have a speed advantage in almost every matchup and that led to countless open 3-point shot attempts against an over helping Toronto’s defense. That strategy might work against most NBA’s team but the Celtics are at an elite level right now with their diverse weapons who all have the ability to shoot and drive within the starting five.

The Raptors are going to have to put up some serious points to stay in these games and. I’m not sure they can do it with their usual starting five. That might mean it’s adjustment time already for Nick Nurse. Does he bench Marc Gasol or OG Anunoby for one of his more dynamic offensive options in Serge Ibaka or Norm Powell respectively? If Lowry is guarding Tatum and Siakam is on Brown, having Anunoby match up against Smart isn’t ideal since Smart has the ability to get by Anunoby on the dribble and setup others. Bringing in Powell would provide some more offensive firepower in the starting five that would help spread the floor more than Anunoby or Gasol. It might be preemptive to make the move after just one game but at the same time, the Celtics have dominated this Raptors lineup twice in Orlando so far. Offense is going to be tough to come by all series long against a stout Celtics defense so sacrificing some defense for offense might be Toronto’s best chance.

3. The 23 turnovers aren’t that worrisome for Boston: The Celtics were sloppy for a lot of Game 1, especially in the second half (13 turnovers) but a lot of the miscues were self-inflicted. Careless passes and sloppy ball-handling were mostly to blame and those type of mistakes are excusable in a 20-point game, which is what this game was for most of the final 36 minutes. Brad Stevens will have plenty of stuff to show on film to his guys on Monday, knowing that the Raptors will be hunting for these miscues again since that’s their recipe for easy offense. However, I don’t see this becoming a recurring issue for Boston. They are one of the better ball handling teams in the league and can handle the pressure coming from VanVleet and Lowry if they are sure with their decision making. The Celtics got into their actions and the stuff they wanted in Game 1 and I expect that to continue.

4. Get ready for a lot more zone in Game 2: The one time in this game where the Raptors held Boston’s offense at bay for a bit came in the second quarter. The Raps held the C’s to three points over a six-minute span, largely going to a matchup zone off their made baskets. This type of look took away some of Boston’s ball movement in their 39 point first quarter and tricked the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown into taking some tougher shots. Others like Daniel Theis cracked a bit under the pressure of a bunch of bodies swarming at him down low when passes were made. Based on this, I’d expect Nick Nurse to mix a lot more of this in over 48 minutes to try to keep the C’s out of rhythm. It’s going to be essential for Toronto if they still want to keep a big like Gasol or Ibaka on the floor for the entire game. The Celtics are going to have to execute against this look with sharp passing but Stevens needs to have his guys ready for more of it as the series continues.