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1. The Boston Celtics 2023 NBA Playoffs run is off to an excellent begin. Certain, the Atlanta Hawks made it semi-interesting within the second half, however Boston was by no means not in management after the halfway level of the primary quarter.
This was sort of a throwback again to the 2022 Celtics model of play. Boston’s protection was elite, as they held Atlanta underneath 39%. The Celtics guarded the arc extraordinarily effectively, by staying connected to Trae Younger and leaving lesser shooters open. When the Hawks obtained inside, the Celtics had been there to problem photographs time and again.
On offense, one of the simplest ways to explain Boston’s strategy is overpowering. The Hawks projected to have a bonus within the paint, however in Sport 1, the Celtics matched them with 54 factors within the paint. At no level was Boston settling for three-pointers. They took 33 triples, however most of them had been off drive-and-kick performs the place the protection was in rotation. General, a whopping 30 of Boston’s 33 three-point makes an attempt had been categorized as open or wide-open.
That each one got here as a result of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum set a tone early that they had been going to get to the rim each time they wished. As Atlanta adjusted, a few of these drives was kickouts to shooters.
In some ways, Sport 1 performed out as anticipated. The Hawks merely don’t have the defensive expertise to gradual the Celtics down. And if Boston goes to defend like this, Atlanta gained’t have the ability to rating effectively sufficient to make it a lot of a collection.
2. Jaylen Brown had some points with the minimize on his proper hand, and he mentioned it opened again up throughout the recreation. That induced some ballhandling and passing miscues at occasions. However largely, Brown performed by means of it fairly effectively. He obtained to his photographs with little hassle.
This was a lightning-quick Eurostep right here:
Atlanta obtained cross-matched in transition so much on this recreation. On this one, Brown drew Onyeka Okongwu. As a substitute of forcing the drive, Brown used a dribble collection to get to the great step-back:
The endurance from Marcus Good right here was terrific. He holds up the break to let Brown circle round him. And, as they’ve repeatedly achieved within the second half of the season, Good discovered Brown reducing by means of the backdoor:
That is pure scoring craft. John Collins comes up with the great strip, however Brown recovers the ball. He doesn’t rush right into a second shot. As a substitute, he will get to his spot and works Collins for an up-and-under end that might make Kevin McHale proud:
As soon as once more, Brown drew a giant right here. This time it’s Clint Capela. We known as out within the collection preview that Capela isn’t fairly nearly as good guarding on the perimeter as he was. Brown units him up properly earlier than drilling the jumper over him:
3. The Hawks don’t have good solutions for guarding Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum. Dejounte Murray is their solely good on-ball defender, as De’Andre Hunter has by no means fairly developed as hoped for in that position.
In Sport 1, Murray picked up Tatum so much. As a substitute of enjoying with the ball, Tatum used his measurement benefit. Tatum is just too massive and too good on this one:
This bucket got here on Hunter, but it surely’s the identical type of factor. It’s additionally an excellent instance of how Boston will use their bigs as facilitators:
With a few guys lurking within the assist spots, Tatum makes use of his measurement and raise to shoot over Murray right here:
The spacing is just a little messy right here, however the course of is nice. Tatum and Derrick White run pick-and-roll to choose up the swap. Tatum goes proper to the block. White doesn’t have the entry move, however Rob Williams does. The result’s simple cash for Tatum within the put up:
That is the ultimate shot from Boston within the first half. It’s an excellent instance of the stress the Celtics placed on a not-good Hawks protection. There’s no cause for John Collins to step away from Jayson Tatum right here, nor for Murray to drop with White after he screened. And the end result was pretty predictable:
4. Derrick White is superior. We might finish it there with scarcely a murmured disagreement. However we’ll present you why anyway.
Trae Younger dies on the display screen. The massive sticks with Rob Williams on the roll. White pulls up for the three:
Younger dies on the display screen. The massive drops. White pulls up for the three:
That is the uncommon good restoration from the Hawks, however they let White drive the closeout after which lose Marcus Good on the late minimize:
The Hawks straight swap this display screen motion. White is overflowing with confidence by this level, so he pulls up off the dribble over John Collins:
No concept what Atlanta is doing right here. Bogdan Bogdanovic appears to suppose he and Saddiq Bey have switched. Bey appear to suppose it was a hedge and recuperate. White doesn’t hesitate and punishes their confusion:
5. The Hawks have a fairly good measurement benefit inside. However the Celtics protected the rim with nice success in Sport 1. Boston tallied seven blocks and had just a few different massive performs across the basket too.
Derrick White obtained his nightly block on the rim out of the way in which very early:
Generally a block will be described as “erasing the shot” and that’s precisely what Rob Williams did right here:
Marcus Good learn this complete play from Atlanta completely. After which he made the play on the rim to interrupt up the lob:
And late within the fourth quarter, Marcus Good made a kind of signature Marcus Good performs in transition:
6. Rob Williams regarded nearly as good in Sport 1 as he has all season. He was a damaging drive on protection. On offense, Williams gave Boston that vertical factor that solely he brings.
It is a known as set from Joe Mazzulla. On the finish, Jayson Tatum is sort of a quarterback. He throws the ball simply realizing Williams will go up and get it:
Poor Jalen Johnson. He misses the shot to begin this clip, then he’s the one one who obtained again. There’s no sensible choice right here, however he steps to Jaylen Brown, who lobs to Rob:
Al Horford obtained Boston the second probability. Derrick White didn’t rush after which observed Williams with solely Trae Younger close to him on the rim:
Good missed this primary shot, however his hustle gave us a spotlight lob to Rob:
7. Al Horford had one of many loudest six-point, nine-rebound video games you’ll ever watch. He was a defender and rebounder first. And he was nice in that position. However when the Hawks had been nonetheless type of hanging round, it was Horford who buried a wanted three to maintain them at bay:
8. It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine for Boston. They let go of the rope massive time within the second half of the sport. After scoring 45 factors within the second quarter, the Celtics solely scored 38 factors in your complete second half.
A giant a part of that was being sloppy with the ball on offense. Boston turned it over eight occasions within the second half, and that led to some simple transition buckets for Atlanta. 5 of these giveaways got here within the third quarter, when the Hawks discovered some life.
Now, on the plus facet, though the Celtics offense was messy within the second half, they locked in throughout the fourth quarter. They held the Hawks to simply underneath 35% taking pictures within the fourth quarter. That’s the type of elite protection that may win a title.
9. On its face, rebounding appeared like a problem for Boston. Atlanta grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. However there’s extra context wanted than simply that quantity.
The Celtics had been solely a tick beneath their NBA-leading 78.5% defensive rebounding charge. A giant a part of the rationale the Hawks obtained 14 offensive boards was that they missed 60 whole photographs within the recreation.
The opposite piece of context value noting: Regardless of creating 14 second-chances, Atlanta solely scored 12 second-chance factors.
It wasn’t an ideal rebounding night time for the Celtics, however a lot of the Hawks offensive boards got here because of quantity vs actually dominating the glass. And Boston cleaned issues up on the second shot most of the time.
10. For a group that’s nonetheless coping with some bumps and bruises, and depends closely on Al Horford, Boston will welcome the 2 days off earlier than Sport 2. They’ll get some relaxation and work on cleansing up a few of the sloppiness that plagued them after constructing the large lead.
General, the 2023 Playoffs are off to an incredible begin for the Celtics. We’ll see on Tuesday if they will take a 2-0 collection lead earlier than heading to Atlanta.
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