Hawks (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) Round 1 Game 1 4/15/23

[letsgoblue86]

Mazzula needs to get a few more guys incorporated. Not great when a “blowout” vs the hawks means 8 guys see the floor.

Winning in the playoffs requires depth and now is the time to get the bench involved.

Hawks played 9 and we played 8… that’s not very convincing

[0003323344]

Like the result, hate the rotation. Going to burn out by ECF/Finals

Nope. The Celtics don't play again until Tuesday so they used a short bench. Besides, the 30 point lead was evaporating so they had to play the starters longer.

[0003323344]

Like the result, hate the rotation. Going to burn out by ECF/Finals

You're assuming they're going to get to the ECF/Finals. lol

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

ESPN making a massive fuss of how we almost lost the game because the Hawks made came within 12 at some point

[86MaxwellSmart]

This was all about us taking our foot off the gas, not what Atlanta did. Any team could have cut it to 12 points the way we softened up. Not worried at all.

[Celtics2021]

So I'll acknowledge, it was a Saturday afternoon. Most of us have lives to live.

But is this one of the lowest active postseason threads on here? We managed just 23 pages.

Not that it's a bad thing, but I found that surprising. I checked last year's first round Game 1 and we got 60+ pages

Last year was on Easter Sunday against the Nets with KD, Kyrie, and Ben Simmons in Game 1 and JT had that legendary game-winning shot.

So do people really think the Hawks are "meh"? Meaning they don't give them any chance lol

Also Ben Simmons was glued to the bench that entire series 

I don’t give the Hawkes a realistic shot.  I was hoping for the Heat, so that we’d get punched in the face and quickly get accustomed to playoff basketball.

I worried we’d get complacent against the Hawks. It only took two quarters.  Hopefully that doesn’t carry over into future rounds.

To be fair, the refs got complacent in the second half too.  It was ridiculous that JT didn’t get to the line until a minute left in the game with the number of attempts he took at the rim.  There was a reason he went 1-5 near the basket in the second half.

[gouki88]

Like the result, hate the rotation. Going to burn out by ECF/Finals

You're assuming they're going to get to the ECF/Finals. lol

Yes, I am

[liam]

Mazzula needs to get a few more guys incorporated. Not great when a “blowout” vs the hawks means 8 guys see the floor.

Winning in the playoffs requires depth and now is the time to get the bench involved.

Hawks played 9 and we played 8… that’s not very convincing

Yeah, this team is very deep. It's a shame not to use that depth. Those deep bench guys will bring energy into a 30 point lead. They'll just be excited to play at all.

[Phantom255x]

Like the result, hate the rotation. Going to burn out by ECF/Finals

You're assuming they're going to get to the ECF/Finals. lol

Yes, I am

How dare you be cocky and assume they’ll already make the ECF, Gouki! 

[cman88]

Up 30, prichard/grant should've been given some playing time at least to boost the energy. Q

[liam]

Up 30, prichard/grant should've been given some playing time at least to boost the energy. Q

Agreed. If you're going to shave 20 points off the lead it should be with deep bench guys and then you can bring the starters back in to finish off the game.

[Phantom255x]

Others stepped up, but also Tatum was mostly a no-show in the 2nd half. I think he only scored 4 or 5 total points in the 2nd half. It's only 1 game, and we were up big, but we can't be having our star player taking these stretches almost entirely off especially once we get to the later rounds.

[SHAQATTACK]

We ll win long as Time Lord can play at his present level.

The team takes on a dominant presence when he is healthy and play n.

[Phantom255x]

Hawks fans seem pretty confident they won't shoot that bad again and that this will still be a series

They are probably right about the shooting. But I have no idea how ATL's defense will suddenly get much better as this series progresses. The C's had no trouble just driving on them. It was just a bit baffling the C's stopped attacking in the 2nd half and kept chucking again, which is another issue. But when the C's need the baskets, they can get it easily, or draw the foul for FTs. Trae Young (their best player) isn't solving that problem, in fact he's probably one of, if not their worst defender period. In fact Atlanta seemed to build real momentum and played well when Young was on the bench which is telling

I still feel confident C's take this in a rather comfortable 5 games

[scaryjerry]

As unimpressive of a comfortable playoff win that I can remember.. they have a past of blowing big leads and they desperately tried to again against a bad team not even playing remotely well. Blah….also the crowd was pretty dead for a playoff game.