POST GAME CROOKLYN - AWAY GAME #1 PLAYOFFS

Celtics Wrap: Impressive First Half Wasted In Game 1 Loss Vs. Nets
Far from a 48-minute effort from the Celtics


NESN by Logan Mullen


The Boston Celtics are playing with house money in their series with the Brooklyn Nets, and for a good chunk of Saturday night, it looked like they might start off with a stunner.

After controlling play for much of the first two quarters, the Celtics squandered their advantage in the second half and fell 104-93 to the Nets in Game 1 of the first-round NBA playoff series.

While it ultimately was a bad night for Boston, Robert Williams was an absolute delight to watch. The third-year big man blocked nine shots (one shy of the NBA record), grabbing as many rebounds while contributing 11 points.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics — who made just one 3-pointer in the second half — with 22 points. Marcus Smart (17 points), Kemba Walker (15) and Evan Fournier (10) also posted double-digit scoring.

Brooklyn got contributions from the usual suspect. Kevin Durant led the way with 32 points. Kyrie Irving (29 points), James Harden (21) and Joe Harris (10) also scored in double figures.

The Nets lead the series 1-0.

Here’s how it all went down.



STARTING FIVE
PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Evan Fournier
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Tristan Thompson

SURPRISING START
Despite everyone thought the Celtics would just get waxed, they actually got off to a hot start. They finished the first 12 minutes ahead 21-16.

Boston jumped out to an 18-10 lead across the first nearly seven minutes thanks to the Tatum-Walker combination, which accounted for all but six of those points.

The Celtics were scoreless in the first without Tatum on the floor, and in the 2:12 that he sat was when Boston cooled and the Nets climbed back in.

Robert Williams, who was a game-time decision, sure looked healthy. He swatted a couple of shots, including a monster denial of Kyrie Irving.


HANGING ON
Boston had a few nice runs in the second, but the Nets ultimately kept pace. The Celtics outscored Brooklyn 32-31 in the second to go into the break up 53-47.

The Celtics really started rolling early in the second quarter, going up by 12 before forcing Steve Nash into a timeout just 2:47 into the period. They had started the stanza on an 11-4 run.

Unsurprisingly, the Nets hung around. The lion’s share of the second quarter was a back-and-forth battle, with the two sides trading chances much of the way.

Walker got himself into a little bit of foul trouble because Brooklyn was making a point of going after him. Historically someone who doesn’t rack up fouls, Walker had three in the first half.

Durant led all players with 16 points in the first half. Tatum paced the Celtics with 15.

ROLE REVERSAL
After controlling play most of the first half, the Celtics started slipping in the third. At that point, the game started playing out as many thought it would, with Brooklyn driving the bus. The hosts outscored the Celtics 31-20 in the third to go into the fourth ahead 78-73.

The Nets quickly erased the deficit in the third, and they did so in a big way.

Brooklyn started pummeling the Celtics right out of the gate, with an 18-4 run — that at one point was 11-0 — putting them ahead 65-57 over the first 4:44 of the quarter.


Such a situation has completely deflated this C’s team at times this season, but to their credit they continued to push. Boston buckled down, regrouped and answered the Nets’ offensive onslaught to keep the game within arm’s reach.

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS
For about half of the fourth quarter, the Celtics looked like they might be able to make it a game.

Brooklyn quickly squashed those hopes and cruised to victory.


With the Celtics behind by three, the Nets put together a quick 7-0 run over 50 seconds that put them up 89-79 with 5:48 to play, effectively securing the win. From there, that Nets fairly comfortably kept their lead in the double digits to close the door.

PLAY OF THE GAME
A nice play that almost looks better in photo form.


UP NEXT
The Celtics and Nets will meet for Game 2 on Tuesday. Tip from Barclays Center is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

112288

You know I have been thinking about Brads post game praise of the Brooklyn Nets a few days ago. After listening a few times to the interview on how he praised the players and the organization and building up paramount obstacles that his Celtic players are going to face, it finally struck me as to why Brad did such an outlandish thing! It was so clever I almost fell for it myself!

HE SNOOKERED ALL OF US BY HIS STATEMENTS!

IT WAS A COMPLETE RUSE! SHAME ON ALL OF US FOR FALLING FOR THE STING!

The pressure must be on Brad because there are just too many rumors floating around Boston regarding Brad. One was him going to coach Indiana, another on did he know about Haywood wanting to leave, his players tuning him out, and his potential demise next year.

What a clever way but to turn the table around the way he did against his team and management by basically saying there is no margin of error for the Celtic team against Brooklyn. Not against superstars and a great coached team, yada yada yada.

He knew he could not beat Brooklyn, not with the current composition of the team, and Brads style of basketball strategy. So why put up a front and say all the right things to reports like, our players are ready, we can beat this team, I have faith in our guys, yada yada yada.

This way he cannot be blamed by the press, the fans and the management because he called the outcome upfront! Not my fault everyone....blame management for not getting me the right players, yada yada yada.

So if he is let go he begins to look blameless for a lost regular season and a first round exit to the golf course! If he stays, his position I believe becomes stronger and Danny's weaker. Hey I am not President of Basketball Operation....Danny is....he did not get me the right players yada yada yada!

Very good con Brad, my hat is off to you my dear friend!

112288

Great amazing defense and effort by Timelord, did it on a big stage, future all defensive if he can ever get healthy. Tatum was off, I expect him to have big games, he will comeback. If he was on and could get anything from Kemba and Frenchy we could have easily had this game. The guy I was most disappointed in was Frenchy, he and Brad have to figure out a way for more motion and better looks, his looks were all contested. Tatum will come back, it’s obvious he has to work so much harder without Jaylen, but he can do it once he finds his zone. Frenchy and Brad have to use this series as an audition, he gives us a series like game 1, we don’t want him back. He’s got to be able to get his shot off against this defense.

Durant is a cheap shot artist, seen him pull this same crap. He doesn’t play a physical game, then he’ll pick a moment to just go off and elbow someone, wish we had a Perk to come in and hard foul that cheap shot
artist. Smart was Smart, he helps you, then always a moment where he misses everything for stretches. We’re undermanned without Jaylen’s 2 way energy, how much would his defense on Harden and Durant help Jaysons offense? Healthy I love the way we can match up with this team. Danny better hire the best medical staff to get Timelord healthy this off season.

This could go either way, 112288.  What we don't hear is what's said in the locker room.  Nobody really cares what coaches or players say.  We're not paying them to be public speakers or to describe what we just saw.  Nobody really cares about mind games until after the series is finished.  And they either work or it don't.  50/50.  Again, nobody cares.  

We simply aren't privy to locker room talk.  So it really doesn't matter what Brad says in public or any of the players for that matter.  (We've concluded never to trust Danny in anything he says to the public.  Let's make it a clean sweep and included everybody!)  I do think Brad has carried this team as far as he can take it.  8 years is a pretty good NBA coaching sample space.  I have no proof other than at the end of this season, we will have regressed significantly from last season after making it to the ECF 3 times with no ticket to the Finals.  And we've seen other teams pass us on our way down, all with equal or worse stories of trying times....BKN, ATL, MIA, PHI, MIL, NYK, just to name a few.  

I myself find it impossible for Wyc and/or Danny to stand pat in the next couple of days based strictly upon what I see.  We know the team will be shuffled, that's a given.  We just don't know the degree.  But the 4th quarter collapses have gotten beyond old.  Digging ourselves huge holes has gotten old as well. Swiss Cheese defense...Old.  

I still can't predict with any great accuracy what is going to happen management-wise over the next couple of weeks.  There's only four possible outcomes.  Keep Brad and Danny.  Fire Brad/Keep Danny, Keep Brad/Fire Danny, Fire Brad and Danny.  I can't even put odds on these because it's been such a whackadoodle season.  

My company in the very early stages of COVID announced that all our jobs were safe and they have held to their promise.  Not many companies across the country or globe can claim that.  I was forever grateful for that but I could have been canned just like anyone else working for the man.  

Boston Celtics?  I don't know.  I'm just going to find it very difficult to believe all the organization needs is some more time to heal, growth and some mild juggling of the roster.

If management/coaching doesn't change in this scenario, next season in the backs of our minds we'll be thinking, "Well, what the heck?!!  This didn't work at all last season and we're basically taking off the summer, reloading with our new draft picks and hoping for the best?!"

One thing for sure.  Time moves on and one of those four scenarios will happen and in pretty short order and we'll be able to move on.

db

We lost but played so well for much of the game. Zero complaints about how Brad coached. Trustan and RWill were just great. Kemba and Jayson were way off. Yet we still contended. This is a good team. With Jaylen we would have won.

This was a scrappy Celtics team that can't compete on talent.  It would be questionable if they could even if we were healthy, but we're not.  In the first half we actually looked like a Brad Stevens team.  We were playing great, active defense and we were moving the ball around on offense.  We continued to play that defense in the 2nd half, they only shot 41% for the game after shooting 41% in the first half too, but our offense croaked.  We went from shooting 40.5% at the half down to 36.9% for the game.  You cannot win in the NBA shooting under 37%, not now, not back in the '80s, not back in the '60s.  That is not a professional level offensive showing.

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Marcus Smart was satisfied with the team's effort level: “It’s the playoffs, man. If you’re not going to bring it, you might as well stay home.”

Tatum had 15 points on 6-14 at the half.  He ended up with 22 points on 6-20.  That's an 0-6 2nd half.  Not enough shots and sure as Hell not enough fgm.  We reverted to iso-ball.  Without Jaylen it would have taken Jayson going into god-mode to carry us with iso-ball.

In fact, our entire offense stank in the 2nd half.  13-40.  40fga in a half is anemic and shooting 32.5% on those 40 is suicidal, and we died.  Brooklyn has the 27th defense.  This is unacceptable.  We scored a total of 40 points in the entire 2nd half.  

Smart was an unexpected offensive sidekick for Jayson.  17 points on 6-13, 3-8 from 3.  This was Playoff Marcus, and I really appreciate it when players up their games for the playoffs.  What I didn't appreciate is that Marcus Smart, not exactly an offensive powerhouse, was the #2 scorer for us last night.  That does not speak well for our offense overall (just in case scoring only 93 points didn't clue you into that).

Kemba and Fournier were a combined 8-26.  That's 31% shooting on 31% of the total fgas.  Can't win like that, not against the #2 offensive team in the league.  

Quoting myself from the Game On! thread last night, "These are the type of situations that create legends. Which player in green will become one?".  Answer:  The Time Lord.  Just one rebound and one block away from a very unusual Triple-Double in just 23 minutes.  It's obvious his toe is hurting him.  Tatum's scoring in the first half kept us in it but RWill changed the game every minute he played.  Get out the rookie extension contract, Danny, you're gonna need it.

Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
yesterday
Robert Williams on his nine blocked shots: "It don't mean shoot if we lose." #Celtics #Nets


Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
57 minutes ago
Nets in Game 1 when defended by Robert Williams, per NBA’s tracking data: 1-13 FG 7.7 FG% 0-4 3PT 9 BLK 2 TO Celtics defensive rating was 93.2 with Rob on floor. He contested 14 shots, next closest on team: Marcus Smart at 10.


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Rob Williams joined Hakeem, Duncan, Dwight, Mourning, Bynum and Coleman as the only players with 10+ points, 9+ rebounds and 9+ blocks in a playoff game per @Sportradar. Only one to do it without a TO. He’s the 1st player ever with 9 blocks in under 25 minutes in a playoff game.





Payton Pritchard with 7 minutes of rookie vacuum.  He struggled on the defensive end, understandably, having to guard Kyrie and Harden on successive defensive stands but he was useless on offense.  1 fga?  I expected more from him, to be honest.  In our two games so far, the play-in with Washington and this playoff game with Brooklyn Payton Pritchard is a combined 0-2, 1 rebound, 1 assist, zero points in 12 minutes.  He's a shooter, and shooters gotta shoot or why else are they out there? He was one of the last players I expected to see wilt under pressure.  He still has time, we have at least 3 more games, but his window of opportunity to become a legend is closing.

His rookie running mate hasn't fared much better.  A combined 2-9 in 31 minutes.  His rebounding is solid, 7 total, and he still brings the energy but this is what a kindergarten bench will give us.  Hope, but not much more.

Jabari Parker is this year's Gerald Green, and he did ok.  Not great, but then nobody in green played great besides RWill and Smart.  Parker should do well against their defense.  I was surprised to see him inserted, but it produced results.  I think we'll see more of him in the next few games.

Thompson was in beast mode.  10 rebounds, 5 offensive.  Brooklyn likes to run, we saw them do that some in the first half (in fact ALL of their fast break points came in the first half).  It's hard to run a fast break if the other team has the ball.  I know, I know, I am obsessed with offensive rebounding and I'll try not to keep going on and on about them (we'll see how good I am at that!), but stopping a team with Durant, Harden and Kyrie from running full court is an effective form of defense.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401327714





Bob


.

worcester wrote:We lost but played so well for much of the game. Zero complaints about how Brad coached. Trustan and RWill were just great. Kemba and Jayson er ere way off. Yet we still contended. This is a good team. With Jaylen we would have won.

+1

Jaylen would have given us say 19 7 4, going conservative, that with his defense would have been enough to get us over the hump.

Hi,
Well, we've got what we expected. But let's look at the bright side.
Our defense was working. More so in the first half than in the second. I think because of getting tired. Sure, there're a few oopsies, but overall it was good.
JT and Kemba, our two main offensive weapons, were off. 22 and 15 is ridiculously low. Part of that I attribute to tremendous effort of Nets to cover JT.
TT was doing what he's supposed to do: 10 rebounds, 5 of them offensive is a very good number.
The hero of the game, of course, was RW3: 9 blocks(!). He was everywhere and tried really hard.
Hopefully, the next game with the same defense JT and Kemba are able to get 60-70 points.

AK

The Celtics stayed in this game longer than I thought that they would.  Their defense was much better although we still saw one too many defensive mistakes.

Offensively the ball did not move enough.  There was still too much one on one stuff and both Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier did not help much.  When things got tight the Celtics pretty much reverted back to the bad habits of the regular season.

TT rebounded well but otherwise sucked for most of the game.  4 points on offensive is not very helpful.  KW knocked down a couple of jumpers late in the game in what looked more like garbage time but his overall contribution was very disappointing.  His inefficiency on offense revealed itself.  He had 2 assists and confirms again that he is no floor general.

Tatum forced a lot of shots but he has made those type of shots all year.

The Celtics offense is vanilla but it can be more effective if the ball moves and guys set more screens.  The Nets are not a very good defensive team so you have to move the ball on them and they will break down.  

Robert Williams earned the game ball.  He managed to block shots of the big 3.  Each and everyone of them had their stuff rejected.  It was an amazing defensive performance.  He was the best player on the court for either team.

Game 1 woke up the Nets.  If Boston is able to win a game that would be great.  If they go down 4 zip that would be bad but if they play hard and put forth a strong effort then that is all I can expect given the superior roster that they are matched up with.

This team has obviously not tuned out Brad.

RWill is on helluva player.

worcester wrote:This team has obviously not tuned out Brad.

RWill is on helluva player.

Imagine if he could go hard at 30 minutes a game for 75 games

worcester wrote:This team has obviously not tuned out Brad.

RWill is on helluva player.

Worcester,

BINGO!!  Both points.  And if they haven't tuned out Brad then our malaise of the past month or two is due to something(s) else.  COVID.  Injuries.  Mental fatigue.  Physical fatigue.  Rookie walls (which Pritchard admitted he hit).  Bad on-court decision-making at critical points in games because of youth.  Weak bench.  Feel free to add a reason of your choice but last night's game shows it wasn't Brad's voice because last night, at least for the first two quarters, we were playing Brad-ball and we won both of those quarters against a healthy #2 seed in their gym without Jaylen Brown. That means that, talent deficit notwithstanding, we played better ball than them.

And yeah, Cowens, imagine if The Time Lord could get more time because he's healthy.  I would make finding what needs to be done to make that happen Job 1 for Danny and our medical folks as soon as this post-season is over.


Bob


.

Bob agree bigly the health of Timelord is everything for this franchise, he’s an obvious all defensive talent. I don’t know why this wasn’t a priority after year 1 or 2? And if it was, how could this staff fail so miserably?

Having said all that, does the franchise go all in and resign Frenchy or use that cash to look for reinforcements at 5 since you know it was so wise to get rid of Theis?

Last night's game was nothing but a scrimmage for the Nets.  They only shot 41.7%.  For the year even with a lot of missed games from their top players they shot 49%.  They still won by eleven and are not likely to score only 104 points in game 2.  

I smell a blowout in game 2.  

Even if that happens I just want to see the team fully engaged defensively and hopefully get untracked on offense.  (we shot 36.9% from the field)

Frenchy better not ask for much. I dont see the value on D, and he has been spotty on O.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Bob agree bigly the health of Timelord is everything for this franchise, he’s an obvious all defensive talent. I don’t know why this wasn’t a priority after year 1 or 2? And if it was, how could this staff fail so miserably?

Having said all that, does the franchise go all in and resign Frenchy or use that cash to look for reinforcements at 5 since you know it was so wise to get rid of Theis?

How do you avoid a sprained toe? I think RW will be just fine. His injuries have not been career ending. I also think Danny should strongly consider getting an extension for him inked during the offseason to avoid a bidding war next year. Nevertheless they still have one more season to wait.

I do not see the Celtics going all in to sign EF unless they move MS, KW or TT.

NBA

Robert Williams Has Become a Boston Celtics Fan Favorite With Blunt Message After Historic Performance

by Mike Thomas on May 24, 2021

https://www.sportscasting.com/robert-williams-has-become-boston-celtics-fan-favorite-blunt-message-after-historic-performance/

Robert Williams made history in 22 minutes. He didn’t care because his Boston Celtics lost. The high-energy center made a significant impact coming off the bench in Saturday’s playoff opener that saw the Brooklyn Nets pull away for a 104-93 victory. Williams gutted it out by battling through turf toe. The Celtics’ big man quickly became a fan favorite with his performance and his post-game comment.

Robert Williams was a game-changer against the Nets

Williams has always been a high-energy guy. He brings his raw talent and high-level enthusiasm each game, but injuries have gotten in the way this season. Saturday, he played with turf toe but it didn’t stop him from being the defensive game-changer he knows he can be.

The high-scoring Nets were forced to alter shots throughout because of his in-your-face defense that led to their dismal shooting. Brooklyn shot 41.7% from the floor. The Nets were held to 16 first-quarter points. “We’ll just be more aware going into Game 2. He’s shifting over every single time on every one of our drives,” Kyrie Irving said, according to The New York Daily News. “So we’ve just got to be a little bit smarter. But his timing is amazing.

“It’s great to see a big that’s active in our game, and he challenges you at the rim every single time. So it’s just gonna test our IQ for the rest of these games, and we’ve just got to make the right play.”

“He contested everything, both at the rim and on the perimeter,” James Harden said. “He’s one of the reasons why we didn’t shoot so well.”

Williams made history while making himself a Celtics fan favorite

Williams played less than half of Saturday’s game but was the best player on the court for the Celtics. He made history by becoming the first NBA player to come off the bench and register nine blocks. It only took him 22 minutes to do so.

“He was just great. Made big plays, whether it was on the ball, off the ball, used his length and athleticism,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “But there were times we were a little bit naive at times today to go at him today unnecessarily in the wrong positions.”

Williams also made five of his eight shots from the floor. He finished with 11 points and nine rebounds to go along with those nine blocks. He singlehandedly kept the Celtics in the game. None of that mattered to him.

After the game, he gained tons of respect from the Nets and his own teammates. He also endeared himself to Boston fans, both with his play and his postgame comment. “It don’t mean sh*t if we lose,” Williams said.

The future is bright for Williams

Things didn’t start so smoothly for Williams when he first joined the Celtics. He was immediately given the immature label when he missed his media conference call the morning after he was drafted in 2018. The reason for the missed call? He overslept.

The next month, he missed a flight and couldn’t make a practice. He slipped in the 2018 NBA draft, likely because his level of commitment was a question mark. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski pointed it out then.

“Williams is a lottery-level talent, a player with immense talent,” Woj tweeted in June of 2018. “If he can show a commitment to playing hard, this could be a steal of the first round.”

The Celtics clearly think enough of Williams. They traded their center Daniel Theis during the season to all Williams more time. So far, he’s making the most of it.