Four Stats That Really Cost Celtics In Game 1 Loss Against Knicks

The Celtics blew a 20-point lead in Game 1, and Boston fans pointed to one fatal flaw for the loss.

Jalen Brunson led a New York Knicks comeback in the fourth quarter, and Tom Thibodeau’s side prevailed in overtime to go up 1-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Green Teamers highlighted their favorite team’s love for the 3-point shot for Monday’s loss at TD Garden. Boston broke the playoff record for most 3-point attempts and misses. While that didn’t help, other factors led to the Celtics’ meltdown, which still involved Jayson Tatum.

Let’s look at four key stats from Game 1 and how Joe Mazzulla can rectify those errors.

Thirteen points
That was how many points Tatum scored when Brunson was the primary defender. Heading into the series, it was clear Boston would target the Knicks star on pick-and-rolls. Tatum did just that, but he settled for too many 3-pointers, shooting 4-for-10, including eight threes, when Brunson guarded him. Compare that to Jaylen Brown, whose seven shots against Brunson featured four from behind the arc.

Seven drives
This leads to the main complaint, which we’re capitulating to: Tatum didn’t attack his matchups enough and settled for too many threes. Tatum only drove to the basket seven times Monday night. That was nearly half of his 13.3 drives per game against the Orlando Magic in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Tatum chose to be an isolation scorer against New York rather than embrace his true ceiling as a playmaker.

Five fouls
Time to get into some of the nuances of the Game 1 loss. It was a tight whistle in the first half. Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Al Horford were in foul trouble, which forced both sides to dig into their bench early on. Kristaps Porzingis’ illness also meant a lot more Luke Kornet, but Mazzulla interestingly had the Celtics big man continuously foul Mitchell Robinson to force him to the free-throw line. The strategy worked, as Robinson shot 3-for-10 from the charity stripe.

But it had a knock-on effect where Kornet went up to five fouls in 17 minutes. That meant Boston couldn’t rely on the 29-year-old’s offensive rebounds and, in turn, punish the Knicks on the glass like they did to earn its massive lead. With Horford as the lone big man, the Celtics also opted to play five-out, which forced Tatum and Brown to play more isolation basketball and make it easier for New York to play the gaps and force the C’s stars to hesitate with their passing. It wasn’t until Mazzulla had Jrue Holiday at the dunker spot that the offense found better rhythm, but it was too little, too late. Game 2 could be officiated differently, but the benefits of intentionally fouling Robinson had unintended drawbacks that could make Mazzulla hesitate.

Twenty-eight touches
Another Celtics reserve who should have had a higher impact was Payton Pritchard. Boston relies on the 27-year-old to provide a spark for the offense, and his drives did so in the first half. His playing time and usage weren’t relied on even when New York started to mount its comeback. If Tatum wasn’t going to attack the basket and collapse the defense, Pritchard could have filled that role. Yes, the starters are going to close out, but Miles McBride kept the Knicks in the matchup off the bench, and Pritchard could have been an equalizer to shut the door on Game 1.