Joe Mazzulla downplays Celtics’ shot selection after record-setting struggles from deep
"Obviously, over the course of the game, you always can find, you know, five to 10 shots that you want to be better at."
The Boston Celtics rewrote the record books on Monday night.
Unfortunately, it was for all the wrong reasons.
In what stood as a frustrating 108-105 overtime loss to the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Boston’s struggles from 3-point range loomed large.
A shooting slump beyond the arc has been a recurring fault for Boston during previous playoff failings.
Some of that stark regression could just be chalked up to the highs and lows present in a make-or-miss league. But Boston’s adherence to the 3-ball rose to new heights on Monday — even if that barrage from deep is ultimately what sank the Celtics in their own building against New York.
The Celtics chucked up 60 shots from 3-point range in the loss — ultimately sinking just 15 of those shots en route to an eventual three-point loss. Those 45 total misses from beyond the arc set a single-game NBA playoff record, as did Boston’s 60 total attempts.
Boston coughing up quality possessions in favor of an avalanche of 3-point shots helped New York erase a 20-point deficit in the third quarter and eventually secure an upset win on the road.
As noted by Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe, Boston boasted a record of 58-0 all-time in the postseason when leading by at least 16 points at the half. That mark is now 58-1 due to the Celtics’ sustained shooting woes.
But even with Boston’s rough night on the stat sheet, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t bemoan his team’s shot selection against the Knicks.
“I think for the most part,” Mazzulla said when asked if he was satisfied with his team’s looks from 3-point range. “Obviously, over the course of the game, you always can find, you know, five to 10 shots that you want to be better at.
“But I thought throughout the night, for the most part, we fought for good looks throughout the game. But yeah, I mean — you can find five to 10 that we could be better at.”
Jayson Tatum (7-for-23 shooting, 4-for-15 from 3-point range) echoed his coach’s thoughts about the looks that Boston was able to generate — but not convert on — against New York.
“It’s a lot of shots that we want certain guys taking,” Tatum said. “And we feel like we got some good looks. Obviously, in hindsight, if we could go back — we probably would drive the ball a little bit more, because we missed a lot of shots tonight. But there’s a balance. Sometimes it’s a make-or-miss league, and then there’s sometimes where you can get a better shot.”
Boston could have stemmed the tide in the second half during New York’s prolonged run by driving into the paint. Some of those efforts were hindered by the absence of an ill Kristaps Porzingis, but the Celtics’ stubbornness came back to bite them.
Lipe noted that a whopping 83 percent of Boston’s shot attempts in the second half were from 3-point range — with a cold night from that area of the court spelling doom for Mazzulla’s team.
“In those moments when the other team’s got momentum, we can’t just fire up threes,” Brown said. “To break up momentum, you’ve got to get to the free throw line, get to the paint, get to the basket, maybe get an easy two. You know what I mean?
“Hit some free throws, and then maybe the next three pointer feels a little bit better. I feel like we just settled in the second half a lot, but we’ll look at it and we’ll make adjustments.”
Boston’s struggles from deep will be a familiar talking point over the next few days as Mazzulla’s strategy and approach are dissected.
But don’t expect Boston’s head coach to alter his strategy ahead of Game 2 on Wednesday night.
“To me, I look at the process and the shot quality. So our shot quality was high,” Mazzulla said. “The points in the paint were even. We shot one more layup than they did. We shot 10 non-paint twos. They shot much more than that.
“And so you have to take a look at the process of what we’re trying to accomplish. And we were able to accomplish good results, for the most part.”
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