The Celtics’ 25-point, drama-free victory over the Cavaliers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals Tuesday night was the epitome of a total team effort.
No doubt about that. We’ll save the deeper discussion about why this is happening for another day, and for now simply offer this truth:
This is the most connected Celtics team in the seven seasons that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been teammates, including the 2022 team that finished two wins shy of Banner 18.
Brown scored 32 points, and served as the de facto starter and closer, scoring the game’s first 5 points and putting away the Cavaliers with barrage of buckets early in the fourth quarter.