There’s been a shift in the Boston Celtics offensive approach to begin the season. We’ve all seen it. We’ve all mentioned it when talking hoops with friends, colleagues and the like. There’s more balance, more ways to attack, and more variety in the overall scoring profile.
For a Celtics team that has been so steadfast on shooting the three-ball in recent years, the added variance is a nice change of pace. Suddenly, when threes aren’t falling, Joe Mazzulla’s team is finding other ways to get things done.
In previous years, if the Celtics had shot 30% or less from deep, chances were that they’d either lose, or would need to squeeze out a victory in the clutch. This year, four of the Celtics six wins have come in games where they’ve gone 30% or less on the perimeter.
Celtics/Bulls, October 26: 27.3% from deep
Celtics/Nets, October 27: 26.8% from deep
Celtics/Bulls, October 30: 30% from deep
Celtics/Magic, November 1: 27.3% from deep
That’s two-thirds of the Celtics’ current win total coming on rough shooting nights from the perimeter — formerly their bread and butter.
In fact, the only time they’ve lost a sub-30% perimeter shooting night was on Monday, November 2 against the Houston Rockets.
Not bad, huh?
There’s a knock-on effect to this, though.
