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NEW YORK -- As important as his defense is for the Boston Celtics, Kevin Garnett's offense received the most attention following Boston's 85-78 loss in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the New York Knicks.

Over 36:36 of floor time, Garnett finished with just eight points on 4-of-12 shooting, never fully establishing the kind of rhythm that can make him a difference-maker for Boston on that end of the floor.

Ever since Garnett arrived in Boston, Celtics coach Doc Rivers has stressed the importance of establishing Garnett on offense early in postseason games. Rivers often points out how crucial rhythm is to Garnett's game, noting that he hasn't seen a player so reliant on being in rhythm since he played alongside Patrick Ewing two decades ago.

The general consensus following Game 1 was that Garnett didn't find the rhythm he needed, and his lack of involvement on offense fed into the Celtics' woes as a team, including lack of ball movement and poor spacing. Heading into Game 2, the Celtics believe Garnett needs more touches early, plain and simple.

"We're trying to establish him early," Paul Pierce said. "I don't think we really did that last game. Usually, at the start of the game we try to get him the ball. Usually, the first four or five possessions we want to get it to him, whether he's shooting the ball or making a play. We've got to establish him early because, usually, at the end of the day, it works out for us.

"We get off to a good offensive rhythm when he's touching the ball and we're moving it, and that's what we've got to do if we don't want to continue to struggle on the offensive end. And also early in the fourth quarter, we've got to do the same thing like we did when we start the game -- get the ball to him."

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NEW YORK -- The fact that New York's J.R. Smith won the league's Sixth Man of the Year honor should come as no surprise. It's Boston representation on the final balloting that raised some eyebrows.

Smith received 72 out of a possible 121 first-place votes while finishing with 484 points overall to comfortably edge Los Angeles Clippers' Jamal Crawford (31 first-place votes; 352 total points).

Two things jump out from the Boston perspective: 1) After a subpar regular season, former Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry did not land on a single ballot among the 121 sportswriters and broadcasters who were asked to pick their top three choices. 2) Jordan Crawford, Boston's deadline acquisition, earned a single first-place vote and finished seventh overall in the balloting. Was it a mistake ballot for Jamal Crawford?

A Celtics player hasn't won the award since Kevin McHale (2) and Bill Walton combined to win it three straight years from 1984-1986.

Read on for a glance at the full balloting and past winners:

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NEW YORK -- Celtics guard Jordan Crawford did two things for the first time in his career in the opening game of Boston's first-round playoff series with the New York Knicks Saturday: He played in the postseason and he played more than 10 minutes without taking a single field goal.

Crawford's attempt-less final line stood out more, as he doesn't usually hesitate to fire away at the rim. But he shouldn't be in for a repeat performance in Tuesday's Game 2, at least if Celtics head coach Doc Rivers can stick to his planned adjustments. After Saturday's 85-78 loss, and in the days since, Rivers has highlighted Crawford as someone he wants to play more, not only for his pure scoring ability, but for his capabilities as a playmaker.

"I thought Jordan should have played more in the second half," Rivers said. "It’s funny, he didn’t score, but he created baskets. He created that 3 at the end of the (first quarter) because he has the ability to do that. And, I’ll tell you, he’s buying in defensively and if he can continue to do that, then he has a chance to help us."

When the Celtics first acquired Crawford from the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline in February, they did so knowing he had the potential to swing games in their favor, through his confidence in his offensive game and his ability to knock down shots from virtually any spot on the floor. He said Monday that doing so requires playing the way he has his whole career.

"Play my game, the game I continue to play that got me here that Doc Rivers wants me to play," Crawford said. "So I'm just trying to help them win any way...Just be precise, don't second guess nothing, be precise. Whatever you think to do, do it quick. If you make a mistake, do it hard."

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NEW YORK -- Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said the team had a productive film session Sunday, honing in on all the mistakes the visitors made while falling to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series. Rivers is confident his team will respond with a better effort during Tuesday's Game 2 but knows the Knicks will likely do the same.

"The film never lies," Rivers said. "It didn’t. I thought our guys were great, though; they saw what we could have done and what we didn’t do, and again, I’m sure New York saw the same thing. I expect them to have a great game tomorrow, and I expect us to play a lot better as well."

Rivers liked a good amount of what his team did and the way it competed. But he knows the Celtics have to clean up some areas, particularly eliminating what Paul Pierce had previously dubbed "boneheaded" miscues.

"I’m always pleased with [effort,]" Rivers said. "We played hard. So did they. We have to play better. It’s like I told our guys, hard is great, but hard and smart is more important. We made a lot of hard plays -- even Courtney [Lee] saves the ball inbounds [but led to an easy New York basket], that was hustling. So you give him an A for effort. Then the rest of the part is where you have to be smarter as a group. I thought we did a lot of that in the game the other night."

Pierce said the film only confirmed what he already saw on the floor.

"Everything we didn't do well was pretty obvious," Pierce said. "I mean, turnovers, defense was solid, offensive execution -- the main things that led to the loss."

Added Pierce: "We've just got to be a little more patient, take our time, understand what sets we're running, understand who we're trying to get the ball to, continue to play pressure defense. Not to say that every game is going to play out. Who's to say that we're going to hold two of their starters scoreless or J.R. [Smith is] going to shoot bad or Carmelo [Anthony is] going to have a huge night? Every game plays out different. But the one constant thing, I think, is our effort on the defensive end and we have to control our turnovers. Those are the two biggest issues for us."

Read on for more notes from the team's afternoon practice on the floor at Madison Square Garden:

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Boston got younger, but now it could use that veteran advantage of the past:

NEW YORK -- When the Celtics take the floor Tuesday night for Game 2 of their opening round playoff series against the New York Knicks, coach Doc Rivers is hoping to see a more cohesive effort from his team.

Rivers pinpointed a lack of ball movement as one of Boston's chief shortcomings in its 85-78 loss in Game 1, as the Celtics relied on too many isolation plays and didn't show enough trust in one another to keep the ball moving.

"We did lose our trust a little bit," Rivers said Sunday prior to the team's film session. "We had three or four next passes where we clearly had to make the next pass and we decided to hold it and shoot it. And a lot of people say, ‘Well, guys are being selfish.’ It’s not that at all. It’s guys want to win. Sometimes they want to win so much they get in the way of themselves, and I thought we did a great job of that (Saturday). You could see it.

"It’ll be great today when we watch (the film) because you can see several guys -- they know they should make the pass. One guy actually took the shot (but knew he should have made the pass). He knew it, but still shot it. But they want to win and that’s a good thing. And now you’ve got to get them to understand you’ve got to win together. You’re not going to do this by yourself. There’s no single guy that could.”

Not even Rajon Rondo, whose absence is, of course, being felt, though Rivers scoffed at the idea that the All-Star point guard would have solved all of Boston's problems on Saturday. Even though Boston committed 21 turnovers and didn't move the ball enough, Rivers said those are mistakes the team is capable of correcting, and missing Rondo isn't a factor in that.

"That had nothing to do with not having a point guard," Rivers said. "We made bad decisions, and it wasn’t Avery (Bradley) only. I mean, Paul (Pierce) had six turnovers, Jeff (Green) had six or whatever. ... Avery could have made some better decisions and so could have everyone else, but we made just some unbelievable decisions with the ball. And I thought a lot of it, we just became impatient."

Ball movement has been crucial for the Celtics since Rondo went down, as it's kept everyone involved in the team offense. Rivers acknowledged that the lack of ball movement on Saturday factored into Jason Terry's 0-for-5 shooting performance, as well as Jordan Crawford not attempting a single field goal.

Rivers knows that Boston's over-reliance on isolation plays in the second half of Saturday's loss, particularly with Pierce and Green, can't happen throughout the rest of the series.

"What I saw and what I hope they see is that Paul is really good, so is Jeff, but you can’t just lean on them to say, ‘Win it,’ and it turned into that in the second half," Rivers said. "They just kept throwing it to them and standing and said, ‘Go do something.’ That’s just hard to win that way.”

Added Kevin Garnett: "I think a lot of times when you’re trying to be aggressive or you’re trying to create some momentum, you try to do it more by yourself, and that’s not the way we got here. We got here with being together and sharing the ball. So you want to leave that alone, build some trust, and you want to continue to be consistent.”

While the Celtics couldn't rectify their issues during Saturday's loss, the two off days prior to Tuesday's Game 2 should be more than enough time for them to remind themselves that their winning formula is built on sharing the ball, keeping everyone involved and making the extra pass.

"It’s about our offensive concept and that’s what we preach each and every day," Pierce said. "Ball movement. Make the extra pass. It doesn’t matter who you put out there on the court or how long they’ve been there. That’s our system. We know when we play that way, we’re successful."

NEW YORK -- The Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls are sharing the same New York hotel this week as both teams are in the city for their first-round playoff matchups. After both teams lost on Saturday -- the Knicks taking down the Celtics before the Brooklyn Nets thumped the Bulls -- coach Doc Rivers said the mood at the hotel was subdued.

“It’s not a good hotel today,” Rivers joked of the Manhattan oasis that was quoting $695 as the cheapest available Sunday-night room option. “Two losing teams, I think one should leave. This was a quiet, dark hotel last night. The New York area teams didn’t treat the guests very well.”

The Celtics gathered Sunday morning -- the first of two off days before Tuesday’s Game 2 -- to watch film from the 85-78 defeat. Boston’s veterans remained upbeat, convinced they did themselves in with turnovers, lackluster rebounding and poor offensive spacing. Rivers acknowledged there’s correctable mistakes, but said the Knicks would be better next time out as well.

“They’re going to play better too,” Rivers said. “J.R. Smith missed a couple open 3s. [Steve] Novak didn’t get involved. So we have to anticipate them playing way better, and then we have to play way better. And that’s what, in the playoffs, you just have to anticipate that.”

A handful of quotes and notes from the morning access:

* ROTATION CHANGES?: Rivers went with an eight-man rotation in Game 1, utilizing just three reserve guards (Jason Terry, Jordan Crawford and Courtney Lee). Rivers said he’ll consider adding a big man to the mix (not tipping his hand if it would be Shavlik Randolph or Chris Wilcox), but said he’ll remain guard-heavy against New York while eying addition minutes for Crawford. “I thought Jordan should have played more in the second half. It’s funny, he didn’t score, but he created baskets. And, I’ll tell you, he’s buying in defensively and if he can continue to do that, then he has a chance to help us.” Rivers said he’ll also try to drive down Jeff Green’s minutes a bit with the offensive load they are asking him to shoulder, which would open additional floor time for a reserve group that didn’t generate a single field goal Saturday.

* CONFIDENCE IN JET: Even after 35-year-old Terry went scoreless on Saturday -- the first time he’s been held without points in a playoff appearance -- Rivers offered a vote of confidence for the veteran guard. “We didn’t do a good job with [getting Terry going] last night,” Rivers said. “Especially in the second half, there were so many [isolations] that Jason has nothing to do with. In the first half, Jason didn’t score, but we ran that play with the pick-and-roll with him and Paul. We scored five times in a row because of Jason Terry’s involvement, so I don’t actually look at if he scored. I look at the points he created, and in the first half he created 12 points. In the second half, it was all isos. I mean, it’s not us. We’re not built that way.”

* GET THE BALL TO KG: Rivers admitted the team did a terrible job of establishing Kevin Garnett and expect the Celtics to run much of their offense through him, hoping his passing can create opportunities for others, while trying to drive up his shot total as well. Garnett said he’d be more aggressive: “I thought, from an offensive standpoint, I didn’t have a lot of different opportunities. Obviously, I had shots and stuff. Some went down, some didn’t. But I try not to let that predicate things or my level of play. I thought I moved the ball very well, got other guys open, was able to rebound obviously, trying to be as much of a force as I can on defense. In Game 2, I’d like to be a little more aggressive, obviously, but being consistent with the overall game.”

* MORE FROM EVERYBODY: Paul Pierce was asked if Boston needed more from a bench that provided just four points -- all on free throws -- during Saturday’s loss. He said it’s on the entire team. “I’m looking for a better overall effort, whether it’s the bench, whether it’s the starters,” Pierce said. “The starters, you look, me and Jeff had 12 turnovers -- just us two. We have to be better, regardless of our bench. Overall as a team, we have to be better.”

NEW YORK -- When Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers shows his team the game film from its 85-78 loss to the Knicks in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series, Kevin Garnett might be among his first topics of discussion.

Rivers typically stresses how Garnett, whose defensive value to Boston is no secret, becomes something of a weapon on offense for the Celtics throughout the postseason, when opposing defenses typically tighten up and teams lean a bit heavier on their star players for needed points.

But, even if they had the right intentions on Saturday, the Celtics couldn't establish Garnett on offense the way they wanted to, and he finished with just eight points on 4-of-12 shooting to go along with nine rebounds over 36:36 of floor time, registering a minus-8 in plus/minus.

Part of it rests on Garnett, who not only appeared a bit rusty at times after missing 10 of Boston's final 13 regular season games, but suffered through some second-half foul trouble that limited Rivers' ability to utilize him for important stretches. But Rivers was quick to note how the team let Garnett down on offense on Saturday -- through forced entry passes, poor floor spacing, and an overall lack of ball movement -- and suffered accordingly.

"We were trying to get the ball to Kevin," Rivers said afterward. "I think we threw three passes from halfcourt to the post. I mean, you’re going to turn the ball over when that happens instead of just making the next pass, letting that guy make the pass when he’s in the passing area."

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A look at our headlines after the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series on Saturday at Madison Square Garden:


And a look at how things are playing at ESPN New York:

NEW YORK -- Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, rehabbing from ACL surgery in February, joined the team in New York on Saturday for Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series against the New York Knicks.

Rondo had actually hoped to sync up with the team on Friday, but the since-completed manhunt in Boston in the aftermath of Monday's marathon bombing and the citywide lockdown actually prevented him from getting down to New York City. But Rondo was on the bench Saturday, wearing a bright yellow cardigan beneath a blazer and offering words of encouragement -- and direction -- to his teammates.

Rondo, who returned from the initial phase of his rehab in Florida late last month and attended a couple of home games, was a welcome presence on the road as Boston embarked on its postseason voyage.

"It's great to have him around. Everybody smiled, hugged him this morning, surprised he was here," said Avery Bradley. "We're so happy to see him. He's our leader, and to have him here just makes me feel even more relaxed out there."

The Celtics really could have used Rondo's steady hand on the floor Saturday, as Boston turned the ball over 21 times in an 85-78 loss. But Bradley said Rondo's ability to impart knowledge, particularly given that Boston doesn't have a pure backup ball handler, is a nice luxury for the team's stable of combo guards.

"He's still our leader. I know he'll be on the bench, coaching just like Doc," said Bradley. "So he's going to be big being here. His presence is going to be big for us."

Did the team miss him?

"Definitely. Not having him in the gym. When he came, we were so happy to see him," said Bradley. "Every time he comes we're happy to see him. We're like a family. Somebody's gone for a week and they come back, it's like, 'Yeah, finally, you're back!' So, that's what kind of feeling it is. I'm just happy he's doing well."

Rivers, who had previously said he was indifferent about Rondo's postseason plans and said he was fine with any decision so long as he focused on his rehab, admitted he was happy to have Rondo along.

"He probably coaches as much as anybody. And I don’t know if it helps, but I think it does," said Rivers. "I actually don’t know; as a player you tend to listen to the players in the uniform over the suits and ties. I feel that way as a coach all the time. So, we’ll see. But I know it was great today in shootaround, he knew every set the Knicks were running. Every time we called out a set to walk through it, he was pointing where everybody [would be]. I mean, it’s amazing. He’s always been that way. I was surprised today because he’s not playing. And yet he studied the book. There’s gotta be some good value in that."

Asked if Rondo was like adding another coach, Rivers quipped, "He’s always been on another level that way. I always tell him that, if he wasn’t so crazy, he’d be a great coach."

Read on for more postgame notes on under-the-radar nights for Jason Kidd and Brandon Bass, along with a note on Boston's big-man-less bench:

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The New York Knicks have a lead in a playoff series for the first time since 2001 after edging out the Boston Celtics as the NBA playoffs began on Saturday.

It wasn't the prettiest of offensive displays, but the Knicks won the way they used to win during their last great run of success, by thwarting other team's chances to score.

Let's run through some of the statistical highlights.

STAR OF THE GAME: MELO
Carmelo Anthony had 36 points, six rebounds and four steals. He became the second player in Knicks history with a 35-5-4 combo in a playoff game, joining Patrick Ewing, who also did so against the Celtics in the first round of the 1990 playoffs.

NEXT LEVEL: MELO CHANGES APPROACH
Perhaps influenced by a hot first couple of minutes, Carmelo Anthony passed the ball on only three of 26 touches in the first half, and after his hot start, he missed 11 of his last 13 shots in the half. In the second half, Anthony took a different approach. He passed 15 times on his 33 touches, the most important of which resulted in a key Kenyon Martin layup late in the game. The Celtics contested 19 of Anthony's 29 field goal attempts, and he made 3-of-14 contested looks through the first three quarters. Anthony finished strong, making 4-of-5 contested looks in the fourth quarter, including three over Jeff Green.

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NEW YORK -- At the tail end of a frustratingly inconsistent regular season, Boston Celtics guard Jason Terry stood confidently before reporters and said that he would be better in the postseason, that his expected performances in the playoffs were why Boston signed him to the full mid-level exception last summer.

Terry, despite a rocky 79 regular-season games, could still be confident, with career playoff averages of 16.9 points on 39.4 percent shooting from 3-point nation and 3.5 assists to fall back on.

But over the course of the Celtics' 85-78 loss in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal matchup with the New York Knicks on Saturday, it became clear Terry hasn't yet shed his regular-season form.

Terry suffered through an 0-for-5 shooting performance (four misses beyond the arc) while going scoreless over 20 minutes of playing time in a game in which Boston desperately needed offense, particularly in the second half.

"I didn't feel like I was in a good rhythm, and it's on me to get into a good rhythm," Terry said. "I'll take a look at the film and figure out the best way to do that."

Terry has appeared in 88 playoff games during his 15-year career and this is the first time he's ever gone scoreless. In fact, it's only the eighth time he's been held below double figures in scoring output.

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NEW YORK -- Rapid reaction after the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics 85-78 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks lead the best-of-seven series 1-0.

THE NITTY GRITTY
Carmelo Anthony ended on the upswing during a roller-coaster night, scoring 36 points on 13-of-29 shooting to go along with six rebounds and four steals over 41 minutes. J.R. Smith added 15 points on 7-of-19 shooting, while Kenyon Martin had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks. Jeff Green scored a team-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting for the Celtics but disappeared a bit in the second half (1-of-5 shooting, 6 points). Paul Pierce added 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds over 39:11 but couldn't shoulder the scoring burden by himself in a second half in which the Celtics scored just 25 points (eight in the fourth quarter) on 7-of-27 shooting (25.9 percent).

TURNING POINT
In a two-point game midway through the fourth quarter, Kevin Garnett (8 points, 9 rebounds over 36:36) picked up his fifth foul trying to prevent a Smith layup. Despite playing the next three minutes without him, Boston had multiple chances to tie the game. Instead, a bad pass by Pierce led to an Anthony layup that had New York out front 81-76 with 2:31 to go. After a turnover and a Jason Terry missed 3-pointer, Anthony made a 21-foot jumper to push the lead to seven with 81 ticks to go and essentially seal the victory.

AN UGLY THIRD
The Celtics and Knicks combined for 10-of-35 shooting (28.6 percent) in the third quarter. Boston missed its first four shots and turned the ball over twice. Its bench, which doesn't sit until the first field goal by the team, couldn't hit the chairs until Bradley's layup with 8:24 to play in the frame (and there was a timeout before that). The Celtics had a little burst later in the frame, opening as much as a seven-point lead, but the Knicks got it down to a one-possession game heading to the final quarter and pulled away when Boston's offense went from cold to icy.

MORE REGULAR-SEASON JET
Terry pledged to ramp up his game in the postseason, suggesting he would wipe away six months of struggles by being the big-game player that was his calling card in Dallas. Terry missed all five shots he put up Saturday -- including four beyond the arc -- and was scoreless in 20 minutes. With Boston leaning on guard-heavy lineups (neither Chris Wilcox nor Shavlik Randolph played), the contributions from reserve guards was a major disappointment. Boston's bench -- Terry, Courtney Lee and Jordan Crawford -- combined for four points (all free throws by Lee) and missed all seven shots it took.

WHAT IT MEANS
This will be a tough one for the Celtics to swallow. At times they played some excellent basketball, getting a monster first half from Green and leaning on their defense when their offense went stagnant. But the Celtics got sloppy with the ball (21 turnovers for 20 points), and no one beyond Pierce could make shots at key times in the second half. The offense was a major concern coming into the playoffs, and Boston absolutely cannot endure the sort of lulls it did in the second half Sunday. There are two days off before Game 2 on Tuesday night at MSG. The series shifts to Boston for Games 3 (Friday) and 4 (Sunday).

NEW YORK -- Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he's uncertain how Friday's events (including the apprehension of the second suspect in Monday's marathon bombings) will affect his team emotionally during Saturday's Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Rivers knows his team was distracted on Friday, but is hoping the good news from back home might give his team some sort of emotional jolt at the start of this series.

"[Friday] was a strange day," said Rivers. "You’re going to practice and you hear guys on the phone and literally everyone is calling home, yelling or you could hear them saying, ‘Stay in the house!’ And we’re going to practice and I even told our staff, we’re going to make a lot of mistakes in practice today. There’s no way their focus is where it should be. And you felt that going into practice. And, honestly, we were right, practice played out that way.

"So I don’t know. Thank gosh it’s over, in that regards. It was good to see everybody in the city happy, hugging and rejoicing. And I’m sure our players had a chance to exhale, because their families are still back there. [Injured point guard Rajon] Rondo was supposed to join us yesterday, and he couldn’t even get out. He was locked in and had to stay in himself. What does that do for us today, I have no idea? I think, emotionally, it could go either way. Hopefully we can figure out a way, if it’s not going the right way, to gather them right and get it back. Thank gosh it’s a four-quarter game because I’m always worried about any team, even if it wasn’t for this, being too emotionally high at the beginning of a game. Because you still have to finish the game. We’ll see."

Inside the Boston locker room, where Celtics plays were sporting special marathon patches and wearing yellow Boston Stands As One warm-up shirts, players like Avery Bradley expressed relief that a violent and frightening 24-hour manhunt was over.

"It feels good. I'm just happy there weren't a lot more people injured," said Bradley. "That was the biggest thing for me, I didn't want anybody else to get hurt. But it is a good feeling knowing that everything is done now, that people are safe, and people can feel like they can go outside now."

Added Bradley: "It was real tough [to focus on basketball], especially seeing as I live in Waltham, which is the next town over. It was hard, but all I could do was pray that everything would be OK."

A couple other pregame notes:

* Rajon Rondo is with the team for the start of the playoffs. Rivers is happy to have him along, noting, "I want him around. He’s a good mind. He’s a great, great mind. And he knows the game. He’s a smart kid. People have no idea his IQ, they really don’t. It’s funny right now, even after our shootaround, he’s into it." Rondo had previously planned to join the team on Friday, but couldn't get out until the manhunt ended around Boston.

* Pablo Prigioni is officially out for the Knicks; Chris Copeland takes his spot in the starting lineup and the Knicks will go with a starting backcourt of Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert.

The Boston Celtics will wear this commemorative Boston Stands As One uniform patch after the Marathon tragedy on Monday (via Instragram):


The team also Tweeted out a look at the special warm-up jerseys they'll wear in New York.