Boston Celtics: 3 keys to victory in game-three vs. Toronto
By Mark Nilon
Boston Celtics key to victory No. 2) Continued excellence at the 3-point line
In today’s offensive-oriented NBA, when people think of the 3-point line, one’s mind tends to only ponder on the shooter and rarely on the defender. However, if the Boston Celtics wish to win their seventh consecutive outing, they’ll need to hone in on both sides of the ball around the perimeter.
So far throughout their second-round bout against the defending champions, the Cs are shooting at an impressive rate of 41.6 percent from 3-point range. Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Brad Wanamaker each are converting at 50 percent clip or better from downtown (Smart is shooting 55 percent on 10 attempts per game) while other key cogs in the rotation such as Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and Daniel Theis are shooting around the mid-30s.
On the opposite side of the ball, Boston’s defense has managed to hold the league’s fifth-best 3-point shooting team from the 2019-20 regular season in check. Though they typically convert at a 37.4 percent clip — 37.7 during the playoffs — the Celtics have held Toronto to just 26 percent shooting from downtown.
At the end of the day, the team who scores the most points winds up winning the game. That said, the old saying of “defense wins championships” still applies.
With the way Boston has been playing as of late, it appears they are completely locked in on both sides of the ball on the perimeter.
If they want to give themselves the best chances of winning game-three, they’ll need to continue this level of play.