Boston Celtics: Winners and Losers from Game One loss against Brooklyn

After making it to halftime with a six-point lead, the Boston Celtics fell to the Brooklyn Nets in the first game of their round one series. The 104-93 score doesn’t tell the whole story though as the game actually served as a great appetizer for what to expect from here on out.

As frustrating as it was to watch the Cs slowly lose the 12 point lead they had built up, there are still many takeaways, both positive and negative, that fans can learn from this one.

Winners:

Robert Williams

To say that Robert Williams had a great game would be a huge understatement. The Boston Celtics center was doing his best Bill Russell impersonation as he finished the night with 11 points, nine rebounds, and NINE blocks in only 22 minutes, good enough for a new franchise playoff record, according to the TNT broadcast.

I mentioned how Williams was going to be important when previewing this series and the points held true. He was all over the floor affecting almost every drive in the paint as well as playing stellar defense when isolated on the perimeter by Brooklyn’s Big 3.

You could tell that the entire atmosphere on the court changed each and every time Williams checked into the game. Simply put, he does a great job of disrupting the flow of the game which is something the Boston Celtics will need for the rest of the series.

Jabari Parker

While Brad Stevens is known for his out-of-nowhere rotations and abnormal substitutions, I don’t think anyone was expecting Jabari Parker to get first-quarter minutes, let alone over 20 minutes total.

But Parker delivered.

He was able to hunt mismatches and use his offensive talent to apply even more pressure to an already below-average defense. Even defensively, usually a glaring weak spot for Parker, he stuck with generational scorers like Kevin Durant about as well as you can hope for. He even helped force a Durant turnover on one play.

A good surprise overall, Parker’s offense and veteran presence was a welcomed sight off the bench.

Defense for the Boston Celtics

They may have lost the game but the Boston Celtics played great team defense against a powerhouse offense. The Nets averaged over 118 points per game throughout the season so to play in Brooklyn and only allow 104 points is a positive.

While they were helped out by the Nets shooting just 23 percent from deep, praise should also be given to the individual Cs players as they did as good a job as possible communicating, helping, and staying aggressive.

Unfortunately, the good defense doesn’t quite matter to the likes of Durant, Irving, and Harden as they still combined for 82 points. Still, the point remains that they made sure no other Nets player gave them trouble.

Losers:

Kemba Walker

Kemba Walker finished the night with 15 points on 5-16 shooting from the field, but don’t let the stats fool you. He scored eight of those points in the final two minutes after the game had already been decided.

This was a frustrating game for the starting point guard. Brooklyn got him into early foul trouble that caused him to sit on the bench longer than usual and Walker wasn’t able to find any rhythm as a result.

What hurts, even more, is that across his last 18 appearances Walker had been averaging 21 points per game, including four 30 point performances. Because of that, I’m still putting my faith in him to be the second option for Boston but they certainly could’ve used extra scoring in this one.

Second-half scoring runs

In the second half, Brooklyn went on both an 18-4 scoring run to open the third quarter and a 17-3 run in the middle of the fourth quarter to help seal the game. This has been an issue all season long for the Boston Celtics as they have struggled to score against momentum.

This will only get tougher against an elite offense like Brooklyn, especially when they have three players that are all capable of stringing multiple scoring possessions together with ease.

With that being said, the solution to this issue most likely lies on the offense meaning it will be up to guys like Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker to go and get buckets by doing whatever it takes to stop these runs.

Whoever Was Guarding Kevin Durant

After a slow start, Kevin Durant was the member of the Big 3 that helped open the floodgates for the Brooklyn offense. Durant is a rare player who can get his shot off no matter who is guarding him which makes it difficult to affect his offense.

Boston actually did a good job of making him uncomfortable in the first half, but when the play resumed, it was clear Durant was no longer letting anything bother him.

What resulted was many Celtics players growing frustrated by the fact that there was nothing they could do to stop the lanky scorer whether it was KD rising above them and firing or, creating contact and getting to the foul line.

Unfortunately, nobody in the NBA has figured out a way to stop Durant.

Although, one thing to look out for in the rest of the series is when the Nets decide to play him at the five, look for Brad Stevens to potentially try and defend him with Robert Williams.