BSJ Game 1 Report: Celtics 112, Hawks 99 - Tough defense carries Celtics through late lull

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' win over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown paced the Celtics early, with Tatum taking it to Dejounte Murray often. The Celtics' defense held the Hawk to 9-25 shooting in the first, and Trae Young to 1-7 and just 2 points. The Celtics' lead grew to 30 in the second quarter behind stifling defense, generally good rebounding, and relentlessly attacking the basket. The Celtics gave up a 21-10 run to close the third quarter and cut their lead to 19. The lead dwindled down to 12, but the Celtics were able to respond and keep it from getting any closer.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Defense as advertised (for both teams): Coming into the game, the broad analysis was Boston’s defense was going to be able to keep Atlanta’s high-powered offense in some kind of check while Atlanta’s terrible defense was going to bleed points. The analysis was proven true in Game 1. Boston’s defense at its best gave the Hawks fits. The Hawks' defense, when Boston’s offense was at its best, was warm butter. 

The letdown was not great, but not terrible: I’ll get more into this in a minute, but letting a 30-point lead get cut to 12 isn’t the best thing in the world, but also, they never let it get below double digits. I get why people might be less than thrilled about it, but also keep in mind you’re complaining about a 13-point playoff win. 

Surprising rotations: Sam Hauser got some run but Grant Williams didn’t, which is a little bit of a surprise. It was only 11 minutes for Hauser but I’m surprised Williams didn’t get a crack in this game. We’ll see if there's a Game 2 adjustment coming.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics' lead was 8 after an early second-quarter Hawks bucket but it grew to 30 by halftime thanks to a 45-25 quarter. Derrick White’s 12 points in the quarter led the way, but he, Tatum, and Brown combined for 27 to outscore the Hawks themselves. Boston held the Hawks to a single second-chance point in the quarter and 7-23 shooting overall. Yes, they toyed with the Hawks after that, but mostly because they could with such a big lead.

FIVE UP

Derrick White: 24 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and he shot better than 50% across the board. Just a solid night from White, whose 3-point shooting is incredibly dependable. Oh, and tack on two more blocks for White in this one. 

Jaylen Brown: He set the early defensive tone and showed no ill effects from the cut on his hand, even though he was feeling them. 

“It split open during the game but it’s fine now,” Brown said, though he wasn’t sure if it would need further work. “I think it’s going to be all right. They’ll take a look at it tomorrow.”

The big thing for Boston was his 12 rebounds to go with his game-high 29. The Celtics need everyone to rebound against the Hawks, so it was good to see him getting in there.

Jayson Tatum: He feasted early, going at Dejounte Murray often and effectively. He finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, but he can probably make the case that he should have gone to the line more than twice. I’m not sure how a guy like Tatum gets 14 of his shots in the restricted area and is only fouled once. 

Marcus Smart: One of his best defensive games of the season. He was brilliant on that end of the floor. He made spectacular play after spectacular play while taking care of a lot of the basic ones as well. He was huge, and he also chipped in with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. 

Robert Williams: He was part of the defensive dominance early on. He was also a nice outlet offensively whenever the Hawks overreacted. 

TWO DOWN

Malcolm Brogdon: An off night for him, which means he’ll probably bounce back with a big Game 2. He was 1-6 overall from the field and 0-3 from 3. 

Sam Hauser: 11 basically ineffective minutes. I’m not sure we’ll see much of him in Game 2. 

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- It’s really not that big of a deal that Atlanta cut into the lead

Is it IDEAL that the lead was ultimately cut to 12? No. Ideally, the Celtics will continue to play no worse than even after growing a 30-point lead. Scoring 38 in the second half is not what you want to see. 

“We got to be a little bit better in those situations,” Tatum said. “When you have a lead like that, human nature plays a part, but we don't want things like that to haunt us coming up.”

That's true. No one wants to see the team have to play extra games or extra minutes if they can be avoided. 

At the same time, a Hawks run was inevitable. They do have some pretty good NBA players and no team wants to be down 30 in a playoff game. So there was always a good chance they’d make some kind of move. 

“I’m not concerned at all,” Joe Mazzulla said, actually scoffing at my question (we actually laughed about it afterward, so don’t take that in a negative way). “That’s going to happen. It’s actually good that we went through it, we had to feel that, and it’s important that we learn from it. So for us to be able to get a win and at the same time know we can play better is good.”

I honestly thought the Celtics would win this game by 30 and then struggle to win Game 2. Maybe they got both of those things out of their system in each half here instead of spreading it out over two games. 

The good news is that Boston’s defense only coughed up one big quarter, the 31-point third. The first, second, and fourth were all below 25, which is the target. So as the offense slowed down, the defense only barely slipped. 

I think both sides need to keep some perspective here. Winning a playoff game by 13 isn’t bad.

- The Celtics actually rebounded pretty well. 

You can slice the rebounding numbers a couple of different ways. Boston out-rebounded Atlanta by 13, which is good. They also won the second-chance points battle by 4, which is also good. 

However they gave up 14 offensive rebounds, which isn’t great. The Celtics gave up 10 more shots than they got, which is more a testament to their defense that those weren’t cashed in for points. 

“We have to be better on that,” Mazzulla said. “We probably gave up some offensive rebound 3s that they missed. Maybe some of those are controlled tips that are actually field-goal attempts. But at the end of the day, we have to be able to control the shot margin, and our team does that best when we don’t turn it over, and when we defensive rebound. That’s two things that we can really get better at.”

I think the offensive rebounding numbers were inflated by a few bad possessions where the Hawks got a few offensive rebounds at a time. I don't think the numbers were as bad as they seemed, and I think a similar rebounding effort will be just fine moving forward. They just have to clean up some of those multiple rebound possessions and the number will greatly improve.