Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from C’s Game 1 loss to Miami

Boston Celtics takeaway No. 3) More Robert Williams

In his first game in over a week, Robert Williams looked like himself once again. Contesting an absurd amount of shots, whether it was at the rim or perimeter, Time Lord made life difficult on the Heat at every level.

He suffered a cramp during the fourth quarter, but just as a result of not playing intense minutes in a while, he should be good to go for the rest of the series.

Williams was one of Boston’s most successful offensive contributors as well. He finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes of action. He made six of his eight shots and six of his seven free throw attempts, an area Boston struggled with in general.

The Celtics did a great job attacking the paint and finding big men such as Williams and Daniel Theis in the dunker spot when help came. This was one of the main reasons for the Celtics’ insane amount of paint points at the beginning of this game.

While Rob had highlights of his own, the duo of Theis and Aaron Nesmith (who got his first real playoff action) did not disappoint. Both recorded jaw-dropping blocks even in this defeat, with the second-year man recording three rejections in just 11 minutes.

The defensive intensity was there for the majority of the game — Boston won the first, second, and third quarters by a combined score of 93-79. They lost the remaining 12 minutes 39-14.