Under Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics have established an identity as a high-volume three-point-shooting team, riding it all the way to a championship in 2024. Even with personnel changes, the Celtics have continued leaning into their M.O., winning the math game, and using the three-point line to create massive advantages.
Yet, the participants for the 2026 NBA Three-Point Contest were announced on Sunday, and not one of the eight players selected came from the Celtics. Boston makes and attempts the second-most threes in the league, behind only the Warriors.
The Cs have six players who have shot better than 37.5% from three-point land this season. Two of them are no longer on the team after Josh Minott and Anfernee Simons were traded away, but Boston was left with four sharpshooters who could have been eligible.
Jordan Walsh is shooting 37.8% on 1.7 attempts per game from deep, Sam Hauser is at 38.8% on 6.6 attempts, Baylor Scheierman is shooting 39.4% on 2.2 attempts a night, and Luka Garza is all the way up at 43.8% on 1.7 three-point shots a game.
Celtics shut out of 3-point contest
The Celtics even have other high-volume three-point shooters who are lighting it up despite shooting below normal percentages, like Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown. But the NBA chose not to reward any of the team’s great shooters, even though they’re off to a 34-19 start, tied for the third-best record in the league, led by their excellent shooting.
Instead, the NBA chose to go with star power, choosing Devin Booker, who’s shooting just 30.7% on the season, and Damian Lillard, who hasn’t even played in a game. But still, that’s who the league wanted to reward and use to showcase the NBA for one of their marquee events.
But this is nothing surprising or new. This Celtics team has been written off and disrespected since before the season even started. Even with their surprising success, nothing about the narrative seems to have changed, and they're still working just to earn respect around the league.
Missing out on the three-point contest isn’t a huge deal. Ultimately, these guys will get extra vacation and rest, and get a full week off. On top of that, it’s one more chip for the shoulder and one more piece of bulletin board material.
We know Mazzulla and his staff will use this as fuel for the fire and preach to his players how the NBA doesn’t believe in them as three-point shooters. With Boston mired in a recent spell of bad shooting, maybe this is just what the doctor ordered, and can be used as motivation to hit the ground running after the All-Star break.