Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals didn’t go the Boston Celtics’ way, with the Heat — who were given a 3% chance of advancing to the NBA Finals and deemed an 8-point underdog at the spread — upsetting the Cs at the TD Garden. Joe Mazzulla made significant changes to his rotation, playing the not-oft-deployed Payton Pritchard, but he also started Robert Williams III for the third straight game after the double-big lineup with Al Horford helped saved the team’s season in the east semifinals against the Sixers.
Both decisions turned out to be the wrong ones to make according to The Ringer’s Zach Kram — who called out both in contributing to Miami’s shocking Game 1 victory in a series most counted them out in beforehand.