Boston Celtics: Game 1 takeaways from loss vs. Milwaukee Bucks

The Boston Celtics played arguably their worst basketball game since mid January. Taking on the defending NBA champs, the Milwaukee Bucks, they lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals 101-89.

To start the game, Boston came out and looked pretty good. The C’s were making some good shots and playing defense well, forcing nine turnovers in the first quarter for the defending champs.

What really stuck out, however, was the struggling Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the duo that led the team past the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. In the first quarter, the duo only made one shot on seven attempts.

As the game continued, there seemed to be more glimpses of the team from the beginning of the season, rather than the team prior to January 23rd.

Obviously, no one predicted this game to be a four game sweep like Brooklyn, but what I noticed is that this series is going to be much different than last series.

Another played who Boston relied on heavily last series was Marcus Smart. Along with the young star wings, Smart was another key player who didn’t really play as expected. At the end of the first half, Smart drove into the paint and was fouled hard by Bucks guard, Jevon Carter.

At first glance, it didn’t look good. At all. But after nursing the injury during half time, the heart and soul of the Boston Celtics took the floor for the second half of the game. He was seen limping after the game however, which will be of importance as this series goes on.

In this article, there are 3 main takeaways from the series-opening loss.