Every time the Boston Celtics lose a game in which they shot poorly from 3-point land, a familiar refrain echoes around the media landscape: the Celtics rely too heavily on outside shooting and it’s going to cost them come playoff time. Their collapse against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, during which they shot 17-of-58, was the latest such example.
To be fair, the critics have a point. The Celtics are near the bottom of the league in free throw attempts (22nd) and points in the paint (28th) per game, but first in the league in percentage of points scored from behind the arc (40.9). When their shots aren’t falling, they can struggle to make up the difference with easy points, and, at times, get stubborn with their approach.
But, of course, the complaints only arise on the rare off nights. Everyone loves the 3s when they’re going in, and most of the time they do. The Celtics lead the league in 3-point makes (16.4) and attempts (43.3) per game, and are tied for eighth in percentage (37.8).
They’ve made at least 15 3s in 21 of their 28 games, and are 18-3 when they do. In the 11 games where they’ve made 18 or more 3s they are 11-0 with an average margin of victory of 21.2 points. Looking at percentage, they’ve shot at least 33.3% 20 times and are undefeated in those outings. In the 12 games where they’ve shot at least 40%, they are likewise perfect with an average margin of victory of 20.4 points.
When they have an even halfway decent night from downtown, they’re borderline unbeatable. And when they have an above average night, you have no chance against them.
Which is why they’re going to keep launching away and live with the results. Look no further than their dominant two-game stretch against the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers. Just days after going ice cold against the Warriors, they doubled down and put up 95 3s in the next two games. They made a whopping 47 of them and cruised past two of the Western Conference’s top teams on the road — a 25-point win over the Kings and a 37-point destruction of the Clippers in the span of three days.
Against the Clippers, they made 25 3s, which is tied for the most by any team in the league this season, and their 47 3s are the most in a two-game span in franchise history. Furthermore, they scored 140-plus points in consecutive games for the third time in franchise history.
“We’ve been playing the right way,” Jayson Tatum said on Saturday after beating the Clippers. “We’ve just been shooting the ball really well. We just continue to create advantages and everybody on the court can shoot. It’s hard to help against us, and it’s hard to guard guys one-on-one, so we create a lot of problems.”
To Tatum’s point, of the Celtics’ 43.3 3-point attempts per game, 36.4 of them are classified as “open” or “wide-open” by the NBA’s stats site — the second-most in the league — and they’re shooting 39.0% on those looks.
There are going to be nights where the shots aren’t falling, and when that happens the Celtics need to be better about getting downhill. But when they can create and make open 3s with such regularity, it’s no surprise they’re going to continue with that approach. After all, they have the best record in the league at 22-6 and the fourth-best offensive rating (120.3).
“We just play to our strengths,” Tatum said. “Nine times out of 10, everybody on the floor can space the floor and shoot. No matter if we’re shooting 50% or 20%, we always want to create the advantage and find the open man… You play 82 games, some nights you’re gonna be very hot, some nights you miss shots. If you’re taking the right shots we’ll always live with it.”
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