Boston Celtics: What the C's Need to Improve on After Their First NBA Game

One game down, 65 to go for the Boston Celtics, who will face down the rest of the abbreviated regular season slate at 0-1 following a 106-104 Christmas Day loss to the New York Knicks on the NBA's opening day.

Headed into their next game, a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, there are a few things the Celts need to do better.

Against the Knicks, the C's played about one-and-a-half good quarters, but were ultimately undone by a superhuman effort from Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony (along with a little help from referee Joey Crawford), who took the game over in the final frame, scoring 17 of his game-high 37 points in that stretch, eight of them in the final three minutes.

The Celtics had no answer for Anthony all afternoon, but some better defense prior to his fourth-quarter explosion may have mitigated that somewhat. The Knicks shot 47 percent for the game, but were over 50 percent in the first half and were particularly deadly from the perimeter. New York hit 5-of-11 from three-point land prior to the half, a number the Celts just can't allow.

Defense has been the focal point of the Celtics' run to the top level of the league over the past four seasons, but you wouldn't know it after witnessing them give up 62 points in the first half, and getting outscored by 10 points while allowing 58 percent shooting in the fourth quarter. Anthony's fourth-quarter output equaled the entire Celtics team.

On the other side of the floor, Boston's offensive execution must be more consistent than it was on Christmas, particularly down the stretch. Although Rajon Rondo had a career game (31 points on 11-of-19 shooting, 13 assists, five steals) and his overall aggressiveness drew the praise of coach Doc Rivers and many of his teammates afterward, he was quiet in the fourth (two points, three assists).

To their credit, despite the quiet fourth quarter on offense, the Celts got themselves two great, open looks down by two in the waning seconds. But Marquis Daniels (who would not have even been in the game had Paul Pierce been healthy) missed a corner three-pointer and Kevin Garnett bricked a wide-open 15-footer.

A lot of the Celtics' shortcomings on opening day might be attributed to rust. And they must be commended for completely turning the game around with a 35-point third quarter, changing what looked like a blowout for most of the first half into a fantastic, tightly contested contest. But moving forward, they have to not only start faster but finish up stronger, both offensively and defensively.