Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart disappointed by Celtics' lack of intensity in Game 1 loss to Heat

BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown is a starting forward for the Boston Celtics. That's his full-time job. His part-time job these days has become energy monitor.

Ahead of Game 7 vs. the Sixers on Sunday, Brown said the energy from the fans inside TD Garden was "OK at best" during the playoffs. That helped inspire a raucous crowd for a Game 7 win.

After Wednesday night's Game 1 loss to the Heat, Brown turned the focus on the players.

"We came out too cool," Brown said. "Like it was just almost like we was just playing in a regular-season game. Like, it's the Eastern Conference Finals. Like, come on. We gotta play with more intensity than we did today."

Marcus Smart had a slightly different assessment, as he said the Celtics' energy was in the right place for the first half. That led to Boston leading by nine points at the break. It was after halftime, when the Heat outscored Boston 46-25 in the third quarter, that things went awry.

"Just defensively, our physicality. We had a game plan to come in and be very physical. First half, we did a pretty good job. Second half, we didn't," Smart said. "And when you're playing against a team like Miami, when you don't come out and execute the game plan, they make you pay."

On the positive front, Smart doesn't see the solution as being overly complex.

"I mean, the only thing we need to adjust to is picking up our physicality and playing some damn defense," he said. 

Smart, however, was pretty critical of the way that he and his teammates have let games get away from them, and he didn't hold back his thoughts on why that's regularly happening.

"We get tired of doing the little things sometimes," Smart admitted, noting that something as simple as spacing can throw everything off. "We have a lot of great players, but when we're all on top of each other, nobody can be great. So when you've got a good defensive team like Miami, they're gonna make you pay for that. So we gotta make sure we do those little things and you can't get bored with those."

Brown also shared what he sees as the fix for the Celtics getting beaten in the physical game by the Heat.

"It's a choice. It's a decision," he said. "Just come out and play with a different mentality."

Of course, that sentiment would necessarily mean that the Celtics chose to not be physical in Game 1, thus leading to the loss. In reality, the Celtics might have had the right intentions, only for the actual presence of the Heat and the ability of Jimmy Butler to impose his will on an opponent to ultimately overwhelm Boston's players on the floor.

Now, the Celtics are fully aware of the punch that Miami can deliver. They'll face a massive test in punching back on Friday night.