Jaylen Brown. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Jaylen Brown calls out Celtics after Game 1 loss to Heat

By Jeff Smith | Last updated 5/18/23

Through the first half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics looked poised to hit the gas and keep their foot down all the way to a 1-0 series lead. But after a nine-point halftime lead for the Celtics was completely flipped by the Miami Heat thanks to a 46-25 third quarter led by Jimmy Butler, the energy completely shifted.

The Celtics went on to lose Game 1 123-116, largely thanks to Butler's clutch play down the stretch and his big night with 35 points. But while Butler looked nearly unstoppable at times, and the Heat were dominant in the third quarter, Boston star Jaylen Brown had his own strong take on how the night played out.

Brown stated that the Celtics "came out too cool," and believes the team approached it like they were "playing a regular season game" and implored the team to play with more intensity than they did in Game 1, via iHeartRadio Boston's Adam Kaufman.

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals after being pushed to more games than necessary by both the Hawks and Sixers. Truly don't understand how this mindset is even possible at this stage. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/wmuupJ41Dn
— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) May 18, 2023

The lack of intensity, specifically early in the second half, was certainly apparent, but the Celtics looked every bit the part of a legitimate title contender often in the first half. As seen above in Brown's postgame interview, he didn't just call out the team but also pointed it back to himself as well.

Green had an up-and-down night but was solid shooting the ball, knocking down 10 of 21 attempts for 22 points with nine rebounds and five assists. He struggled with turnovers (six) and made just one of six attempts from three-point range.

The Celtics and Heat will square off in Game 2 on Friday night in Boston, a game that Brown and company should view as a near must-win. It'd be surprising to see the Celtics drop Game 2 at home, even factoring in the elite level that Butler has played at this postseason.

Boston still could have taken Game 1 and have shown more than enough resiliency to bounce back quickly from this loss. Expect to see a motivated Celtics team on Friday, which should result in the series heading to Miami tied up at 1-1.

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