Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from C’s Game 1 loss to Miami
Boston Celtics takeaway No. 2) Second half Jays
After a sensational offensive first half, one where the Boston Celtics scored 42 of their 62 points in the paint, tying Boston’s most in a half in the past 25 seasons, it all came crashing down in the last 24 minutes.
It was so bad that coach Ime Udoka called out the pair in his post-game presser:
Ime Udoka: "Having Marcus and Al might have helped, because they settle us down, but it wasn't really just that. And it wasn't our young guys, Payton and Aaron, but it was our veterans Jayson and Jaylen who let it get away from us."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 18, 2022
This type of quote is meant to get the best out of his guys in the upcoming games, but it’s undoubtedly the truth.
Tatum and Brown combined for seven points on 0-of-6 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line while committing eight turnovers and recording zero assists during the final half.
That’s about as bad a performance as you can have from a dynamic duo of their caliber, and it just happened to occur in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Heat essentially blitzed Boston coming out of halftime after Tatum had one of his best halves of the year, catching the Celtics by surprise.
At this stage of the playoffs, that just cannot happen.
Boston had lots of success getting Tatum in one-on-one matchups on the likes of Gabe Vincent and Max Strus in the first half. They went away from a traditional offense, and when they did attempt to run a play, it was a live-ball turnover.