The Boston Celtics' 2023 playoff run got off to a strong start on Saturday.
Other than a rocky stretch in the second half, the C's looked sharp in Game 1 of their first-round series vs. the Atlanta Hawks. They shot 47.7 percent from the floor and held the Hawks to just 38.8 percent in a 112-99 victory at TD Garden.
Boston's 30-point lead at the half (74-44) tied for its largest halftime lead in team playoff history. The C's also tied the playoff record for most points scored in the second quarter with 45.
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One area the Celtics will look to clean up for Game 2 is the turnovers. That was their most notable flaw as they finished with 16 on the day, leading to 19 Hawks points.
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Jaylen Brown paced the C's with 29 points while Jayson Tatum tallied 25. Derrick White did a little bit of everything for Boston with 24 points to go with a stellar defensive performance.
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Dejounte Murray was Atlanta's leading scorer with 24 points. Trae Young (16 points) was mostly held in check.
Game 2 is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET right here on NBC Sports Boston. First, here are our takeaways from Boston's Game 1 triumph.
Defense is locked in
The Hawks are one of the worst defensive teams in the league, but they can make up for it with their hot shooting. The Celtics kept them ice-cold throughout Saturday's showdown.
With Boston shooting the lights out, primarily in the first half, Atlanta's only hope was its star Trae Young catching fire from deep. He was mostly non-factor thanks in large part to Celtics guards Marcus Smart and Derrick White putting on a defensive clinic.
Young was limited to a modest 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting, including 1-for-5 from 3. As a team, Atlanta converted only five of its 29 3-point attempts.
Smart, White, and Al Horford each had two blocks apiece. Smart added three steals in what may have marked the reigning Defensive Player of the Year's best defensive showing this season.
Robert Williams is the X factor
If this is the version of Robert Williams we can expect throughout Boston's postseason run, good luck to the rest of the NBA.
Williams instantly made his presence felt in Game 1. The Celtics big man notched four points, three rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a highlight-reel block all within his first seven minutes on the court.
Time Lord looked to be operating at 100 percent as he was contesting shots at the rim and throwing down lobs. The 25-year-old finished with 12 points (6-6 FG) and eight boards in 22 minutes.
Late-game lapse
As great as a regular season the Celtics had, no double-digit lead felt safe. They had a tendency to take their foot off the gas pedal after taking comfortable leads into the second half and that was the case again on Saturday afternoon.
Boston watched its 32-point lead dwindle to only 12 points with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The team managed to keep Atlanta from cutting the deficit to single digits, but still made C's fans sweat out the remainder of a game that had appeared to be out of reach.
"Obviously, they didn't have a great first half so they're going to make a run. It's just part of it," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game. "I just thought we lost our offensive purpose. Playing passive offense instead of just keeping it moving, being aggressive, and maintaining that level of pace that we had in the first half."
Mazzulla added that he isn't at all concerned about the Hawks' run. Still, that's a habit the Celtics need to break out of going forward. They may get away with the late-game sloppiness against the Hawks, but that won't be the case if they advance to the later rounds.
Sam Hauser in the rotation
Mazzulla went with Sam Hauser over Grant Williams as the eighth man in his playoff rotation. Given the recent play of both players, that shouldn't come as a major surprise.
Hauser finished the regular season with back-to-back 26-point performances and shot 14-for-26 from beyond the arc. He averaged 17.7 points in three games against Atlanta this season.
Should the C's advance, Williams likely will get his fair share of playing time in the next couple of rounds against bigger and more physical teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks. For now, Mazzulla is prioritizing 3-point shooting off the bench over size and physicality.
Hauser had one rebound and did not score (0-2 FG) in 11 minutes.