I guess I'm feeling more optimistic than most here, even after the devastating ending. Miami is really, really good, and that game was basically decided on a coin flip. Both teams had chances at it, Miami made more plays, the Bam block in particular. I thought overall, the Celtics were fine. It wasn't a great defensive game for them; they contained Butler for the most part, but gave up way too many open threes to Crowder and Robinson (the latter of whom couldn't get a rhythm going, but if he keeps getting those looks, it's going to be bad for Boston).
The result came down to a failure of late game execution on Boston's part. Tatum in particular really faded down the stretch. But they've typically handled these types of situations well - they've won more than there share of games that were close late. And they should, because they have two elite offensive weapons in Kemba and Tatum. Kemba's performance was concerning, but to me it looked mental rather than physical. He still roasted guys for his stepback when he had to, but he was also making terrible decisions with the ball and seemingly couldn't decide whether he wanted to shoot the jumper or drive.
Either way, I think Miami's trapping of Walker is something Boston can adjust to. If Kemba's going to draw that much attention, the Celtics just have too many other weapons to go at Miami's scrambling defense. Last night, Miami gambled that they could trap and recover, but sooner or later that approach is going to fall apart as Boston adjusts to getting it out of Kemba's hands quicker. This defense, in particular, is where they really miss Hayward's playmaking ability.
I also think they need to put Marcus Smart on Dragic from the jump. They started the game with Smart on Robinson and Kemba guarding Dragic. Later in the game, when Herro replaced Robinson, they moved Kemba to Herro and put Smart on Dragic. Maybe Brad thought Robinson's height was just too much for Kemba. But I think they've got to put Smart on Dragic to slow him down, it really affects Miami's entire half court offense. Kemba can guard Crowder or Robinson.
It's 1-0. I don't expect Boston to execute that poorly offensively again, and I think there's some easy defensive corrections that can be made. Boston also has the best player in this series, and it's not close. Celts in 7.