Boston Celtics: Player grades for game 1 heartbreaker vs the Miami Heat

As if the Eastern Conference Semifinals wasn’t stress-inducing enough for Boston Celtics fans, game one of the Eastern Conference Finals was a slugfest.

Coming into game one with three days of rest compared to Maimi’s six, the Boston Celtics fell in an absolute gut-wrenching way at the literal hands of Defensive Player of the Year candidate, Bam Adebayo. Responsible for blowing a 10 point fourth-quarter lead, the Cs (several times) were so close to putting this one away, yet failed to get the job done.

Taking a quick step back to look back at the recent history books, Boston struggled with Adebayo during their regular season seeding bubble matchup, as well. During this game, the Heat got to the line 39 times, tying their fifth-highest number of attempts during the entire season and the playoffs.

The Celtics were also fully healthy during this matchup despite a slight Kemba Walker minutes restriction, as the Heat were without Jimmy Butler or, as Jeff Van Gundy stated on a recent broadcast, “Jimmy Free Throws.”

While Miami missed seven free throws on the night, they still got to the line 28 times as the Boston Celtics needed to limit their fouling, especially on Bam.

The Heat got 37 percent of their shots at the rim and converted 67 percent of these attempts as this should be another point of emphasis for this undersized shamrocks squad.

Lastly, we knew the 3-ball was going to be big in this game, and the Heat shot an impressive 44 percent from deep as Boston needs to work on getting out onto shooters and not overcommitting when Miami’s slashers attack the rim.

Without further adieu, let us get to our first player grades of the Eastern Conference Finals:

Kemba Walker: C

Sometimes possessing such a dynamic isolation skillset comes at a cost. For Kemba Walker, that cost came in the form of a constant double team out of the pick and roll action.

Maimi’s blitzing action, a strategy previously used by Toronto, gave the shifty UConn guard fits throughout the game. At times, his handle looked a bit out of control as the C’s co-captain also struggled from beyond the arc, going 1-9 from three-point range, finishing with 19 points on 19 shots.

Despite logging an impressive 42 minutes, getting to the line seven times, dime-ing out six assists, and hitting a clutch shot down the stretch, Walker was constantly targeted as a weak spot on defense, especially against Jimmy Butler in the post.

Don’t get me wrong, the shifty co-captain isn’t a complete defensive sieve. Still, Boston played some rare, Kemba-less minutes during the fourth quarter, as Brad Wanamaker gave them some impressive defensive stints.

Walker also struggled during his possessions guarding Goran Dragic as Brad Stevens will need to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to defend the cagey Slovenian vet.

Jayson Tatum: B+

Here is a quick little rhyme scheme: If the dunk goes in, it’s a possible win, but when the dunk got blocked, fans were in shock.

Again, if the dunk goes in, Jayson Tatum gets a Houdini A-, but this late-game posterization attempt wasn’t his only overambitious play on the night.

The Duke star seemed to make life a bit too tough on himself with a series of early clock long-range bombs, and several late-game step back misses.

Perhaps we should start calling him “tough shot Tatum” as he managed to convert on a third of his 12 three-point attempts, which isn’t terrible given the level of difficulty on these shots.

However, down the stretch, he went 2-10 from the field during the fourth quarter and overtime. Despite three fantastic quarters of basketball and tailing up 30 points on the night, Tatum shot only 42 percent from the field.

The Boston Celtics will need to figure out a more sustainable strategy than always relying on stepback contested three-pointers.

Giving credit where credit is due, his two blown game-winning shot attempts and struggles down the stretch shouldn’t mar his overall production.

In addition to his 30 points, Tatum finished game one with 14 boards, five assists, three steals, and two blocks as his off-ball defense and active hands in the passing lanes gave the Celtics a series of transition opportunities. While Tatum excels in isolation situations, moving forward, look for Boston to get Tatum better, less iso-heavy looks, and maybe more as the pick and roll ball handler.

Jaylen Brown: B

Jaylen Brown got off to a typical hot start during the first half but seemed almost non-existent within the C’s late-game offense.

He only took four shots from three-point range despite converting on three of these attempts, as the coaching staff seemed at home with letting Walker and Tatum isolate down the stretch.

JB was tremendous on the offensive glass, especially in the clutch, as he accounted for four of the team’s six offensive rebounds on the night.

Aggressive early on, even with his playmaking off the dribble kick game, Brown could have been a possible source of late-game offense. He also wasn’t as aggressive as possible when trying to seek out contact, as he only got to the line twice during his 43 minutes of play.

On the defensive side of the floor, Brown was pretty much neutral as he had a crucial miscommunication with Kemba Walker, which resulted in an easy Miami Heat layup.

Let’s hope the Celtics at least get Brown a few more off-ball, driving to the basket type looks as we head into game two.

Marcus Smart: A-

While it feels wrong to give out ‘As’ for a Boston Celtics loss, Marcus Smart kept the team in this game with his laser hot shooting. However, in a similar light to Jaylen Brown, Smart was money from distance but his offensive production essentially was limited to the first three quarters.

The Swiss Army man, who doesn’t need to score to be effective, only ended up with three points during the combined fourth quarter and overtime stretches, as the Cs went with their repeated iso-ball attacks instead of reverting to a more holistic drive and kick game.

He also had a very ‘smart’ late-game foul draw that allowed them to ice the game down the stretch.

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Smart led the Celtics in made three-pointers during the Toronto Raptors series as his production in game one may be unsustainable. However, the Heat were willing to help off him, and he made them pay.

While his defensive stat line on paper wasn’t earth-shattering, the Celtics emotional spirit and co-captain played needed, and quality defensive possessions on Goran Dragic and Jimmy Butler when it mattered.

It will be interesting to see if Smart will command more defensive gravity from the Heat as we move onto Thursday night’s game.

Daniel Theis: C+

Fouling out at the 3:31 mark in overtime, Daniel Theis struggled throughout this game.

His C+ grade wasn’t a complete failure as he had a few typical Theis-esque pick and roll seals, a great cross-court quarter ending assist, some decent on-ball defensive stands when switched on Maimi’s quicker guards, and even a highlight-worthy block on Bam Adebayo.

However, the German Hammer only finished with six points and four rebounds during 35 minutes of play.

Again, player grades fail to focus solely on box score production, but Theis may need to be a bit more active on the offensive side of the floor.

The Boston Celtics may want him to do more picking and popping to bait away Adebayo from protecting the rim, but as Cs fans hope for the return of Gordon Hayward, Theis may be off duty in the pick and pop department.

Brad Wanamaker: A-

Again, giving an ‘A’ during a loss still doesn’t sit right, but Brad Wanamaker’s defensive activity proved pivotal, especially during the later stages of this game.

As the oldest player on this team, he gave Boston 25 minutes off the bench and a career-high five steals. By far, Wanamaker’s best defensive game as a Celtic as he added to his production with 11 points on 5-5 shooting from the free-throw line.

We know that Wanamaker is elite when it comes to attacking the rim and drawing contact, as they may need to ride with the tough-minded Pittsburgh product a bit during late-game stretches. His pace pushing effort gave the Boston Celtics that needed oomph as the four main guards for the Miami Heat all finished with over three fouls on the night.

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As mentioned earlier during the Toronto Raptors series, during crunch time, the Cs should experiment with a Kemba-Wanamaker, offense/defense rotation, for the Heat, much like the Raptors, were zeroed in on attacking Walker in the post.

Grant Williams: B

Grant Williams had himself an exciting Kevin Love style moment defending Fred VanVleet down the stretch in game seven. While it was a fantastic effort, this is now a new series with different parameters.

The seasoned rookie, who is already a decent on-ball defender, was assigned to Kelly Olynyk. While Olynyk was able to score on him down low during one possession, Williams had a swipe down style block against his significantly taller matchup later on in the game.

Williams also hit a needed, late-game corner three-pointer as his shooting is starting to become slightly more trusted.

With his performance, the Boston Celtics may look to shorten their bench for game two with him being a part of it.

Robert Williams III: B-

While Robert Williams is a human highlight machine with his high flying blocks and dunks, he still needs to get better with his pick and pop defense. Because of this, Timelord wasn’t inserted into the lineup when the Heat had Kelly Olynyk on the floor.

Williams finished with an excellent rejection, four rebounds, and a singular field goal. The Boston Celtics may see him as a potential candidate for a minutes reduction if Gordan Hayward returns to the floor.

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While Timelord’s athleticism should make him a better on-ball defender, the young big man still needs to get a bit quicker with his later defensive slides.