Boston Celtics players make up 1/3 of the NBA’s Top 15 in this category
By Sam LaFrance
The Boston Celtics, also known as the best team in the NBA, have been riding an offensive wave to start the 2022-23 campaign. The league’s number one offense has carried the Celtics to the league’s best record at 17-4. Boston’s offensive rating of 120.9 is the highest in league history. Take that with a grain of salt, the holder of that title before was last season’s Utah Jazz team, which got bounced in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
It would be somewhat unfair to compare the WAGON that is the 2022-23 Boston Celtics to that mediocre Jazz team now wouldn’t it.
It seems like Boston’s three stars Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum are all playing the best basketball of their careers. Brown is averaging the highest points per game at 26 and shooting more efficiently than ever at over 50% in his seventh season. Smart is building off of an encouraging first season as the Celtics’ starting point guard last year, with an even better year. He’s averaging a career high in assists at 7.5 per game while doing the same with his efficiency at 44% from the field. Meanwhile, Tatum is not so quietly piecing together an MVP season with averages of 31 points, eight rebounds, and four assists per game.
Boston Celtics players amongst the elite from beyond the arc
Not only are those three balling out, but the supporting cast is having quite the year as well. Five members of the Boston Celtics find themselves amongst the league’s top 15 three point shooters. Sam Hauser, Al Horford, Malcolm Brogdon, Derrick White, and Grant Williams, all make up one third of the NBA’s most efficient shooters from downtown.
These guys certainly deserve credit. Not only for the team’s hot start, but also for the success of the three stars. Things get easier for ball handlers when the players surrounding them are great shooters. The floor opens up more as defenders are more hesitant to leave their man open for a three, allowing both Tatum and Brown to get to the rim more easily, while enabling Smart to cash in on assists when swinging the ball or kicking it out off of a drive.
For a team that takes the second-most threes per game, which some people (me) would argue is too many, it’s great to have such reliable shooters out on the floor.