Boston Celtics Need to Rediscover Shooting Success

Shooting is becoming a major concern with the playoffs just three games away

Following the All Star break, the Boston Celtics were finally finding the balance they were missing in the first half of the season. The Celtics opened up with one of the worst defenses in the league, and with Avery Bradley continually being hurt, they never got a chance to find their best form.

The good news was that the Celtics were the most improved shooting team in the league. They struggled tremendously last season, particularly from three, and this season they spent a lot of time as a top 10 shooting team. The Celtics were proving that they could win with their offense, and it was more than just Isaiah Thomas going on one of the most remarkable scoring runs we have seen.

Then, the All Star break came, Bradley got healthy, and finally the defense started getting closer to where it was a season ago. The Celtics were on the verge of being one of three teams to be in the top 10 of both defensive and offensive efficiency. They knew they would only reach their potential if they played well on both ends, and that was happening for the first time with them at full strength.

Now, over the last stretch of games, Boston’s shooting has plummeted. The offense is unable to do anything without Thomas, and the second unit is often looking like a clear liability. The Celtics finally started to play defense the way they wanted to, and then they entered the worst shooting slump of the season. The Celtics have been back around where they were last year, which is far too close to the bottom for a team that depends so much on shooting, particularly the three point shot.

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The Celtics were a great shooting team because of what they did as a unit. Their great ball movement opens up all kinds of great looks, and players like Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk and, at times, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown, have all done a lot of damage as shooters. Both Bradley and Crowder have improved their shooting to turn into some of the best two way threats in the league.

The Celtics need these players to be hitting their shots, and that has not been happening lately. And, it cannot be individually. The game against the Hawks showed that it is not enough for just Crowder and Smart to get hot. If this offense is going to be good enough, they need everyone to be hitting their open shots.

Thomas is the only player that is really asked to create his own shots off the dribble. The rest of the players just need to play catch and shoot, and all they need to do is hit their open shots, and the offense will work just fine. Crowder and Bradley, in particular, have been reliable all season long, but they are losing much of the consistency that made them so good.

The Celtics expect Smart to be streaky, and it is still a bit unrealistic to trust Brown to hit all his open shots. The other guys, however, have proven that they can be 40 percent three point shoots. Olynyk, Crowder, Bradley and even Jonas Jerebko have sustained around 40 percent for decent periods of time, but that is not the case right now.

When the playoffs come around and defense become even more intense, the Celtics will be in a lot of trouble if they are not hitting these open shots. The Celtics have built a team where almost any player that sees the court is expected to his his three point shots. They need to be hitting these shots, not just because they will not score enough without those points, but that is how they will draw the defenders out of the paint.

There are two great ways for the Celtics to generate easier shots at the rim. The first is by using Al Horford as a distributor out of the post, the other is forcing defenders to have to compensate on the three point line with shooting. All of Boston’s shooters love driving to the rim, and can start creating some offense of their own if they are aggressive in those situations.

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The Celtics may have started to take their great offense for granted a bit there, but every team goes through shooting slumps. The great worry right now is if this slump carries over into the playoffs. The Celtics are still getting their open looks, and that will always be the most important thing. It is comforting for the Celtics to know that hitting the open shots is all they need to be doing, but that if worthless if they do not start hitting them.

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