1. The Celtics held the Nets as in-check as you can possibly expect in Game 1. Brooklyn shot well under their season average at 41.7%. For a large portion of the game, the Nets couldn’t buy a three. While, Brooklyn missed some open ones, Boston’s defense was very good. They were active, they were engaged and they contested most shots.
Unfortunately, the Celtics offense couldn’t match the defensive play.
Boston shot just 36.9% from the floor. It wasn’t a case of the Nets forcing the “other” guys to beat them either. The Celtics main scoring trio of Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier combined to go 14-of-46 from the field.