Boston Celtics: Three Takeaways From Game 2

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Apr 16, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) lays on the court after an injury against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /

Avery Bradley’s Injury Was Felt

It was obvious that Avery Bradley‘s injury was going to affect this team, however, the magnitude was shocking. Boston looked lost on offense and defense without him. In Game 1, Bradley was the whole offense at the start and gave Jeff Teague problems for three quarters.

Celtics’ head coach Brad Stevens opted to starting Smart over Turner so the Celtics wouldn’t lose a beat on defense. It didn’t help as the Hawks scored 24 quick points and looked like they were going to score 40 in the first quarter. The defense started to pick up later in the quarter, with some help from missed shots, and stuck with the Celtics for the remainder of the game. It was still obvious that Boston wasn’t the same team on either side of the ball.

The Celtics went through a lot of uncharacteristic scoring droughts throughout the game. They also shot a dreadful 17.9 percent from three. Losing two of their best three-point shooters – Bradley and Kelly Olynyk – was sure felt in Game 2, especially considering Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart combined to shoot 1-of-12 from behind the arc.

With the loss of someone who played 33 minutes in Game 1, before getting hurt, there was a lot of minutes to go around. Brad Stevens played 10 guys at least 14 minutes in Game 2. Rookies R.J. Hunter and Terry Rozier both played significant stretches and it may be a sign that the rookies will see 10-15 minutes a night for the rest of the series.

When Kelly Olynyk returns, Tyler Zeller will probably move back to the end of the bench, however, a 10-man rotation in the playoffs is very unorthodox. Brad Stevens was trying to find any rotation that worked early on and it led to crazy lineups.

There was expected to be growing pains for the Celtics after losing their second-highest scorer and one of the best defenders on the team. The bad new is the Celtics don’t have time in the playoffs. They weren’t ready for what Atlanta was throwing at them in Game 2 and it bit them in the butt early.

Next: What Happened to Paul Millsap?

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