10 Key Numbers From the Celtics’ Game 1 Loss To the Cavs

It’s all in the box score.

The Celtics may have started strong against the Cavaliers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series, but LeBron James and company still cruised to 113-100 victory on Sunday. After building an eight-point advantage in the second quarter, the Celtics lead unraveled in a hail of Cavs’ 3-pointers and offensive rebounds.

Here’s a look at 10 numbers that shed light on why the Celts struggled to keep up over 48 minutes and how they might be able to improve ahead of Game 2:

5 – Number of 3-pointers Cavs guard Kyrie Irving made before missing one. He finished with 30 points and would up going 5-for-8 from deep, 11-for-21 overall.

13 – Number of 3-pointers the Cavs made as a team. The Celtics made eight.

15 – Number of offensive rebounds grabbed by Cleveland, with forward Tristan Thompson responsible for four in the second quarter alone. The Celtics had just seven offensive boards, three of which came in the fourth quarter with the game mostly out of reach.

Cavs grabbed o-rebounds on 35 percent of their misses today. For some perspective, best NBA team (Jazz) grabbed 29 percent this year.

— Brian Robb (@CelticsHub) April 19, 2015

Cavs get 15 offensive rebs in 13-pt win over C’s. JCrowder: “I think that’s one thing we didn’t emphasize enough coming into the series.”

— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) April 19, 2015

2

– Number of points scored by Celtics guard Avery Bradley in the first 42 minutes of the game. Bradley, who fired off three airballs (two in a row at one point), finished with seven points on 3-for-10 shooting. The Celtics need much more out of Bradley on the offensive end if they are to have any chance of pulling off an upset. Bradley seems to know it.

1 – Number of double-doubles Isaiah Thomas now has as a Celtic. Thomas may have made a couple questionable decisions en route to five turnovers, but his 22 points and 10 assists were game highs for anyone wearing green.

20 – Amount of points scored by Cleveland off Celtics’ turnovers.

1 – Number of driving throwdowns by Kelly Olynyk. This was one of his five made field goals in an efficient playoff debut.

20

– Number of points scored by LeBron James. James shot 8-for-18 and had a team-high 5 turnovers and Celtics coach Brad Stevens felt his team did a great job against him. That the Celts still fell behind by as many as 20 and lost by 13 may not bode well moving forward.

2 – Buzzer beaters buried by the Cavs from long distance, one by Kyrie and the other by 3-point specialist James Jones.

48

– Roughly the amount of hours Brad Stevens has to make adjustments before Game 2 tips off on Tuesday night.