Entering Tuesday night, the Celtics led the NBA in three pointers attempted per game (51.1) and three pointers made per game (18.9). They take a lot of threes and make a lot of threes.
Tuesday night was no different. In fact, it was the main catalyst for Boston’s 120-117 win.
The Celtics shot 22/41 from while the Cavs were just 10/29. Boston outscored Cleveland by 36 from beyond the arc in what was eventually a 3-point win.
When the Celtics hit 20-plus threes, they win.
Dating back to last season, the Celtics now have 16 games with at least 20 made threes. No other team has more than 9.
Boston is 16-0 in those games.
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) November 20, 2024
Cleveland’s perimeter defense was not great. A lot of their closeouts were not hard and they did not seem intent to run the Celtics off the three-point line.
As you can see, Allen comes out to contest Horford’s three but he does not run him off the line. He allows Horford to step into a shot he is very comfortable making.
On this one, Jaylen Brown is being guarded by Darius Garland and Ty Jerome is helping off of Holiday so that Jaylen can’t get to the basket. Jaylen sees it and hits Holiday for an open three.
If Jerome hadn’t helped, it likely would have required Jarrett Allen to come over and help, but he was guarding Jayson Tatum in the corner. That is shooting practice for Tatum.
It is what makes the Celtics so hard to guard — they find the mismatch, attack it so you help and leave a shooter wide open.
Here, Brown beats Allen to the cup so Niang helps, leaving Horford wide open. Brown sees the wide open Horford and throws the pass leaving Craig Porter Jr. in a bind: if he chases to the open man, Horford passes to Payton Pritchard in the corner which is a higher percentage shot than the above the break three. Thus, Porter leaves Horford wide open who knocks in the shot.
This is another part of what makes the Celtics so dangerous from above the arc — they hit their non-corner threes as well.
19 of the Celtics 22 made threes on Tuesday came from above the break, or non-corner. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics shot 56% on non-corner threes during the game, which ranks in the 98th percentile in games played this season.
We all remember a huge talking point of the Finals was not allowing the Mavericks take corner threes and that the Celtics were willing to live with the ones from above the break. Dallas shot 27.4% from above the break in that series.
Three point shooting is a foundational part of Mazzulla ball. Elite three point shooters are the ones who take them from above the break and this Celtics roster is littered with those guys.
To start the season Al Horford is shooting 49% on non-corner threes and Payton Pritchard is at 45%. Sam Hauser, who has been up and down this season, was at 41% last season.
According to ESPN’s Matt Williams, the Celtics have made 287 threes in their first 15 games, that is the most in NBA history in the first 15 games of a season.
It is a big piece of what makes the Celtics so dominant. Their shot chart is most always more analytically sound than their opponents and Tuesday was no different.
