The Boston Celtics lost Game 1 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, despite having a first-half lead. They had a torrid third quarter which turned the game around towards the Heat as Jimmy Butler dropped a 41-point performance to guide his team to a 118-107 win at the FTX Arena.
After the match, Celtics coach Ime Udoka did not mince his words as he was brave enough to put Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the limelight. He blamed them for the Game 1 defeat against the Heat.
The Celtics were massively short-handed as they lost both their veteran players Marcus Smart and Al Horford. Smart was injured with a sprain while Al Horford is in the health and safety protocols of the NBA. Therefore Udoka was forced to play players like Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith for extended minutes.
But the rookie coach called out his star players for this defeat as he expected a lot more from them in the game. “Having Marcus and Al might have helped because they settle us down, but it wasn’t really just that. And it wasn’t our young guys, Payton and Aaron, but it was our veterans Jayson and Jaylen who let it get away from us,” Udoka said at the post-match media interaction.
Tatum led the scoring for the Celtics as he scored 28 points and mustered 8 rebounds and six assists. Similarly, Brown got 24 points and 10 rebounds completing his double-double which ultimately resulted in nothing.
Tatum had 21 points in the first half and only managed another eight points in the second half which played a huge role in the Celtics going down. Meanwhile, Brown started poorly and had a strong finish. He scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. But him staying dormant in the first three quarters in a game like this is simply not justified.
The star duo also turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter with Tatum turning it over six times in the first 12 minutes into the second half. It was a massive letdown from two of the star players, especially in the absence of players like Al Horford and Marcus Smart. They had a fine lead in the first half and could have built on it instead they simply blew it away and are now trailing 1-0 against a very balanced Miami Heat team with a fantastic leader in Jimmy Butler.
