Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 122-121 opening night win over the Bucks with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
Tatum hits game-winner in thriller: The Celtics' rollercoaster ride of an opening night finished on a winning note as Giannis Antetokounmpo missed a potential game-tying free throw with 0.4 seconds remaining, helping Boston to hold on for a thrilling 122-121 victory. Jayson Tatum scored 30 points including the eventual game-winning 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds which Tatum hit from the left wing off glass against the reigning defensive player of the year in Antetokounmpo. Jaylen Brown also added a team-high 33 points to help the C’s hold on late after blowing a 17-point lead during the fourth quarter. Antetokounmpo had a game-high 35 points and 13 rebounds while Khris Middleton (27 points) and Jrue Holiday (25 points) did the other heavy lifting for the Bucks offense.
Jeff Teague fueled the bench offense with 18 points and 4 assists, as five different Celtics scored in double figures helping the C’s keep pace with the Bucks offense in what ended up being a shootout for much of the night. Boston shot 45 percent from 3-point range. Boston now heads into their Christmas Day matchup with a 1-0 record as they face off with another Eastern Conference in the Nets
Tristan Thompson returns and gets the start: The major free-agent addition got a surprise start against the Bucks after sitting out training camp with a sore hamstring. His playing time was kept under control due to his lack of action (his minutes limit was 22) but he looked sharp in his first playing time since March, posting 12 points and eight rebounds in that stretch. Daniel Theis (10 points, 3 rebounds) and Thompson formed the rare double big starting lineup against the Bucks size but look for that lineup to go to a single big in the future if the C’s can clean things up on the defensive end a little bit more.
Fourth-quarter collapse avoided late: The Celtics finished last postseason by giving up double-digit leads on a routine basis against the Heat. They did it against the Bucks this time as Milwaukee tied up the game with a few minutes remaining. Tatum ended up making the game-winner but the C’s also hit a few key buckets down the stretch to keep pace with Milwaukee’s late. For a team that lacked consistent poise in big moments late last season, this was an encouraging sign that they may have turned the page from falling apart when opponents made big runs late.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics trailed by as many as nine points in the second quarter but closed out the half with a 27-13 run in the final seven minutes of the frame, after tightening things up on the defensive end and getting some big scoring from Brown. The stretch set the tone for back and forth shootout affair that lasted much of the night.
TWO UP
Jeff Teague: The veteran point guard breathed life into the Celtics second unit for the majority of the first half. He scored 13 of his 18 points and dished out three assists in only 13 minutes in the opening quarter. He was also very active defensively with a pair of steal and had a potential game-saving steal in the final minute of regulation.
Jaylen Brown: The athletic swingman overcame a slow start (2-of-9 FG) to score 10 points in the final 2:32 of the first half and propel the C’s to overcome a nine-point first-half deficit. Brown finished with a game-high 15 points in the first half on his way to a game-high 33 on the night.
TWO DOWN
Grant Williams: The reserve forward was constantly dared by the Bucks to fire from 3-point range (just like last season) but he was unable to make them pay consistently. He knocked down just one of his five open looks in the first half and was a team-worst -18 on the night
Transition defense in the first quarter: The Bucks shot a red-hot 58 percent in the first quarter in large part thanks to 9-of-11 shooting from inside the arc. The key to that high efficiency was a handful of leak outs after Celtics jump shots that led to wide-open layups.
TOP PLAY
Wow, just wow. Tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game was unbelievable. @jaytatum0 you did that ? pic.twitter.com/MbhOg6fbW6
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 24, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Marcus Smart embraced his shot selection remarks: The veteran guard spoke at length this week about a desire to look closer at his shot selection this year and he backed up that talk in the opener. He embraced the ball-handling role by not even looking to shoot on a number of possessions in the pick-and-roll, electing to probe the defense instead for what ended up being a high-powered C’s offense with him at the helm. The change in mentality also seemed to energize him on the defensive end for much of the night as he drew three charges by himself and was a force on that end of the floor for much of the evening against a variety of different defenders. For things to go well for the Celtics until Walker comes back, Smart has to recognize what the Celtics need him for and Boston’s offense took off for much of the night due to that.
Offense is probably going to be how this team wins games early in the year: The Bucks are an offensive juggernaut but Brad Stevens is not the type of coach who embraces winning shootouts. He has always been a defense-first coach and it’s evident this team has a long way to go on that side of the ball in terms of personnel. A lot of that has to do with the second unit, which features a mix of guys that lack experience, athleticism or good defensive awareness. All three of those things put the C’s in a bind at times, leaving Brad Stevens to turn to Semi Ojeleye to help calm things down in the second quarter and help stabilize what was their best stretch of the game (C’s outscored Milwaukee 64-37 in one 19 minute stretch). Gaining more reps with Thompson and Theis together and apart anchoring units will help this group but the C’s made far too many mistakes on a whole tonight from transition defense to needless switches (Pritchard was a guilty party there). Hot 3-point shooting and clutch play late was enough to overcome it but it will be an interesting decision to see how Stevens manages offensive versus defensive needs from his personnel on a nightly basis.