Threes have been a key part of the Boston Celtics’ identity, for better or for worse, since Joe Mazzulla’s first official season as the team’s head coach. Whether it was how many they were taking, how well they shot them, or anything in between, if you were talking Celtics, you were talking threes.
Unfortunately, that remains the reality through the first eight games of the 2025-26 season. But this time, it’s #DifferentHere. The discussion is centered around how threes are causing them to lose games instead of helping them win them.
They can’t seem to make the same threes that they’ve hit in years past, and it’s been a brutal watch. As of today, November 5, 2025, the Celtics are the second-worst three-point shooting team in the league at 31.1%, eclipsing only the 1-6 Indiana Pacers.
Monday’s loss to the Utah Jazz felt like rock bottom. Boston shot an all-time worst (for any team with 50+ three-point attempts) 11-51 from beyond the arc. Straight up disgusting numbers.
Yet, watching the game, it was tough to get upset about the majority of the shots they were getting. Joe Mazzulla co-signed that sentiment postgame, when he credited his team for creating good looks from distance.
Mazzulla doesn’t sound remotely interested in backing away (or stepping in) from the three-point line. Neither do his players.
Anfernee Simons makes it clear that the three-point attempts aren't the problem
At Wednesday’s shootaround, Anfernee Simons made it clear that this is a problem that he and his teammates need to attack head-on, instead of shying away from it.
“Obivously if you miss a couple threes, you want to make the next one and make sure it’s a good quality shot, or try to get to the free-throw line and see the ball go in,” Simons told reporters. “But, sometimes the game, it tells you [what to do]. If you’re getting some good, wide-open threes, you gotta keep taking them. It’s just reading the game, I feel like. You want to have the confidence to keep shooting those threes.”
Confidently or not, Boston has continued to shoot them. They’re currently the league leaders in three-point attempts at 47.8 per game, over two more than the second-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers.
“If we’re getting quality looks at the three, we gotta keep shooting them.”
Again, the looks have been mostly quality. I can tell you this simply because the story has been more of “I can’t believe these shots aren’t going in” than “I can’t believe they’re taking these horrible shots.”
Sure, every once in a while, there are going to be some headscratchers. But it sure feels like the Celtics are going to be rewarded here eventually if they stay the course.