Within the Celtics’ resounding 121-94 blowout of the Magic, Boston put up the third fewest three-point makes an attempt (37) of the common season up to now. Orlando and their third stingiest protection held them to even fewer simply earlier than Christmas (33) to stun the Celtics after Boston lead by 15 factors at halftime.
However on Friday evening, the defending champs discovered one other solution to win.
Throughout this 2-3 stretch since dropping to the Thunder, the Celtics shot 61-of-212 (28.8%) from behind the arc and beat writers and followers alike questioned the Mazzulla Ball method. Even after crushing Orlando, head coach Joe Mazzulla nonetheless defended the threes they had been taking, and fortunately, making final evening.
“I extra like the way in which they bought their photographs. Al bought some nice kick-out threes from each Jaylen and Jayson. Jrue bought two catch-and-shoot appears to be like within the nook. He bought two off-the-dribble appears to be like off the pick-and-roll to his left hand,” Mazzulla stated. “I like extra the varieties of photographs that they’re getting. To me, if we will get these guys beauty inside our offense due to the way in which we’re executing, it simply makes us higher.”
Positive, the Celtics made a whopping 45.9% from 3, their sixth greatest evening from distance, but it surely was their relentless rim strain and paint assault that made the most important distinction. Throughout one notably sturdy stretch within the second quarter, Jayson Tatum scored on three consecutive possessions driving the ball.
Zooming out, as one of the vital proficient rosters within the league, it’s simply so jarring to see that the Celtics rank final in open to wide-open two-point photographs (8.2 FGA per recreation); the Bucks and Thunder are nearly tied at 15.9. They’re twenty sixth within the league in photographs within the restricted space and twenty seventh in photographs within the paint. Whereas they nonetheless boast one of the vital environment friendly offenses whereas capturing a file variety of threes, may they be even higher in the event that they had been a bit of extra aggressive attending to the basket?
Mazzulla and his gamers have careworn that their perimeter scoring opens up driving lanes for his or her two star wings and we noticed that rather a lot in opposition to the Magic. Let’s rewind. Because the 2024 NBA Playoffs progressed in the direction of the Finals, the Celtics drove the ball extra.
This technique unlocked success for the Celtics. With Tatum driving 19.2 occasions per recreation and Brown 17.6 occasions, the Celtics absolutely capitalized on their spacing. In trendy basketball, the objective is to create “paint touches”—getting the ball into the opponent’s paint, the place the protection is most susceptible and compelled to make fast selections. These drives didn’t at all times lead to layups or dunks, however they constantly compelled the protection to break down and get well, producing the very best shot.
To his credit score, Brown has maintained this extra aggressive strategy. He’s averaging 13.6 drives once more — up from 10.1 from final common season — and producing factors at a good clip (59.2%). For the sake of comparability, Jalen Brunson and Ja Morant drive a bit of extra (19.1 and 16.2 occasions per recreation respectively) and rating at a barely larger fee (65% and 61.3%).
Tatum, alternatively, has maintained his common season driving manufacturing (9.8 drives, 73.5% vs. 9.1 drives, 86.%), however not matched his Finals manufacturing. In his protection, he’s within the midst of an MVP-caliber season partly due to his elevated playmaking, but it surely begs the query why driving hasn’t change into a bigger piece of it.
He’s second within the NBA in pull-up threes at 7.3 makes an attempt per recreation, however is hitting simply 34.9% of these photographs. On an evening when he was constantly benefiting from smaller and slower gamers off the dribble, it’s a must to marvel how way more efficient he might be if he turned two or three of these pull-ups into drives as a substitute?
The Celtics have utilized their five-out offense to devastating outcomes. Banner 18 hangs within the rafters as proof. However as opposing groups regulate and check out to remove that benefit, it could be time for them to flex one other.
