Boston Celtics Showing Three Point Potential

The Boston Celtics started out the season as a borderline disaster on the offensive end. If it wasn’t for all the extra opportunities generated by offensive rebounds and turnovers they would have been hopeless on that end. They went an extended period of time shooting 26% from three point range and they were flat out embarrassing from that range.

Fortunately, things are starting to shift for the better for the Celtics. All last season they were a streaky shooting team but they are proving that they have tremendous potential shooting the three ball. There was a time when Avery Bradley was the only player shooting above 35% from three point range and many of their key shooters were down below 30%.

Isaiah Thomas endured one of his worst shooting slumps, Kelly Olynyk was a non factor and Jonas Jerebko could not hit even the most wide open shots. Since Brad Stevens has taken over, the three point shot has always been a crucial portion of the offense. The Celtics have always depended on the three point shot but that made it even more problematic when they were struggling.

Arguably the biggest aspect of the Celtics’ offensive game was failing miserably and if it wasn’t for their defense they would have fallen into a deep hole to start the season. Now that the Celtics are starting to settle into a steady rotation and players are getting more comfortable, there is significant improvement across the board.

The Celtics now stand at 33.5% from three point range as a team and while that is nothing special, they are gradually pulling themselves out of the disastrous hole they were in to start. The Celtics still only rank 22nd in the league but with the way they have been shooting lately they will be the fastest rising team in the league.

Avery Bradley is still leading the way as the only player above 40% but the rest of the Celtics’ main three point shooters are starting to catch up. Jae Crowder is taking 4.6 three point attempts per game and finishing them at a rate of 36.8%. Kelly Olynyk has found his form and is finishing his 3 three point attempts per game at a rate of 36.7%. And, most importantly, Isaiah Thomas has fully broken out of his slump and is finishing his team leading 6.2 three point attempts at a rate of 35.1%. Jonas Jerebko has only very recently started shooting better and while his 33% is far off from his 41% from a season ago, it is still much improved. Even R.J Hunter is starting to approach 30% from deep. Jared Sullinger may be the only player who was expected to have an impact from three that is still struggling tremendously as he is shooting just 28.8%.

Nov 29, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) shoots over Orlando Magic forward Evan Fournier (10) and center Nikola Vucevic (9) during the second half of a basketball game at Amway Center. The Magic won 110-91. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics are starting to build a habit of shooting over 40% from three as a team and after their game against the Hawks they have now shot above their team average from three in 8 of their last 10 games. At first, it may have looked like the strong shooting was an anomaly but they are establishing the kind of consistency that they will need to continue to be successful.

The Celtics are 4th in the league taking 28 three point attempts per game and it is becoming abundantly clear that the Celtics need to be shooting well from three in order to be a strong offensive team.

The Celtics have done a great job of showing their potential form range. Any time a team puts together long stretches of games when they hit over 40% of their threes as a team it will get the attention of defenses. Even though the Celtics have been shooting well from three for an extended period of time now, they still have to prove that they can avoid being streaky shooters.

The good news is that the Celtics have plenty of three point options and they are certainly benefitting from great ball movement. The Celtics are avoiding taking too many contested threes and they are depending on their ball movement to create open looks for them. There are very few players on the Celtics that are not at least a threat from three point range and they have plenty of minor players that can hit the three in addition to their main rotation players.

Guys like Hunter and James Young can already be trusted to hit their open shots and with how the Celtics use their ball movement they get plenty of open shots. The Celtics benefit from the fact that they do not need to force the issue with any one player. The Celtics are most effective when they create the best possible look for any player on the court.

It is a lot easier for the defense to only have to account for players like Bradley and Thomas. When you take into account all the threats the Celtics have from three they have put themselves in a great position to be a top three point shooting team.

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The key for the Celtics will be to avoid any kind of regression. The Celtics have established a level of three point shooting that will lead to a lot of success and they still have players that can drastically improve. Ball movement and three point shooting are the most important aspects of the Celtics’ offense and they have finally been proving to the league that they can flourish in that area.

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