Boston Celtics: 5 Major Causes for the Game 1 Loss in First Round

The Celtics now find themselves in an 0-1 hole against the Hawks after their 83-74 loss last night. While the big story from the game was Rondo's ejection and possible suspension, the game itself and, more importantly, where it was lost should not be forgotten.

Regardless of if Rondo is suspended, the Celtics still need to learn from their mistakes in Game 1 and correct them in Game 2. If the Celtics can avoid making the same errors they did in Game 1, then they should be able to beat this Hawks team in this first-round series.

Three Point Shooting

The Hawks hit seven three-pointers, all of the seemingly at critical points in the game, shooting 7-of-20 from deep (7-of-11 if you don't count Joe Johnson's 0-of-9 shooting from deep). Meanwhile, the Celtics could not even hit a single one shooting 0-of-11 from three.

It is no secret that three-pointers are vital, especially in the playoffs, to shift or gain momentum. For the Hawks, with every three, they gained even more momentum and the Celtics were never able to answer on the other end.

Part of the Hawks' shooting from three is the Celtics fault. On a few occasions, the rotation was a little late and the Hawks were left with an open shot, but other times, the Hawks just hit a lucky three at the end of the shot clock.

On the offensive end, the C's weren't exactly getting the best looks, but they certainly took some shots that they would normally make.

No Production from the Bench

The Hawks bench scored 17 points. The Celtics bench scored four points. Throughout the season, the Celtics bench has been bad, but this is an all-time low.

Before I totally discredit the bench, I should mention that Stiemsma really played his heart out on the boards. In just 19 minutes, he pulled down nine boards, four of them offensive.

As a whole, though, the bench failed to help the Celtics cause at all. Not all of it was their fault. The offense wasn't really flowing (we'll get to that) and not many shots were opening up for them, or anyone for that matter.

Still, though, this kind of production is unacceptable, and the Celtics will not be able to win unless the bench steps it up.

No Offensive Flow

Especially in the first half, when Boston scored just 35 points, there was zero offensive flow. Part of that was due to the poor shooting from Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett early. It wasn't just that the two best offensive options were cold. The Celtics were also playing out of character offensively.

It didn't seem like they were running the same sets they normally do, at least on a consistent basis. Instead, they were running post-ups and isolations. Even though Garnett was cold to start, it still seems strange that the Celtics did not run the 1-5 pick and pop between him and Rondo much.

That play has been the staple of the offense in the second half of the season and by far the most effective, yet they rarely ran it. Also, there weren't many back-door cutting plays run by Avery Bradley.

I don't know if the Hawks were prepared to shut down these plays or if the the Celtics just wanted to throw something new at them, but in Game 2, the Celtics should just stick to what works and run their normal stuff.

Josh Smith

Josh Smith really put the team on his back for the Hawks. Throughout the game, he seemed to be making every play for them. He was the game's leading scorer with 22 points, while adding 18 rebounds and four assists too.

Most of his success came from his great shooting, something defensively-wise the Celtics can't really fix because most of his shots were contested. What the Celtics can fix, though is how they react to Smith going off.

The Celtics have been known to overreact to one player going off in the past. It seemed every time Smith had the ball, the defense collapsed to unnecessarily help, and the Hawks would swing the ball for an open shot.

In the future, the Celtics need to contest all of Smith's shots and not worry past that. If he goes off, he goes off, but don't let the rest of the team benefit from it.

Factors Outside of the Celtics Control

While the Celtics did play about as poorly as they could, not all of the loss can be blamed on them. Part of it was bad luck, part of it was the refs. You can't really blame the ref for tossing Rondo as it is league policy to eject any player that makes contact with a referee.

However, you can blame Marc Davis, the referee, for the bad call on the previous play. With two seconds on the shot clock for the Hawks in a four-point game with less than a minute left, there was a scrum at half court, and Davis called a loose ball foul on the Celtics.

Whether it was a foul (every player on the floor was fighting for the ball like their lives depended on it), I'm not sure, but what I do know is that that is a call you just don't make. It should have been a jump ball. Rondo had a right to be upset, although bumping a ref is not really ever completely defensible.

If Davis makes the right call, then there is a jump ball, and even if the Hawks win it, then they have just two seconds to shoot. So either way really the Celtics get the ball down by four with 40 seconds left. In that case,  it would have been anyone's game. As we all know, though, it did not go that way.