Celtics' new all-time broken record sets a dangerous precedent

The Boston Celtics opened up their season with a preseason game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday afternoon. It was the first of two games in Abu Dhabi, and it ended up being a very close contest. Boston walked away with a 107-103 win, though a couple of failed inbound passes at the end of the game caused a scare.

Al Horford didn’t play, but the rest of Boston’s starting lineup got minutes throughout the first half. The same can be said about the Nuggets’ starting lineup. But the real story of the contest had nothing to do with the players on the court, but rather the way they chose to play the game.

The threes were flying.

The Celtics love threes... but 61??

It was only a preseason match, so the official record remains unchecked, but this game broke the all-time mark for most threes attempted in a game (regular season or playoffs) by the Celtics.

Boston launched 61 threes, which eclipsed the 59 they took on March 5, 2023, against the New York Knicks. And the Celtics actually lost that game.

The volume with which the Celtics chucked up threes on Friday was not matched by efficiency. They shot just 20-of-61 (32.8%), and without Payton Pritchard’s red-hot 6-of-12 shooting, the rest of the team went just 14-of-49 (28.6%).

It was enough for the Celtics to win the game, but shooting that many threes is a questionable line for the team to be riding, considering the history of high-volume teams.

Obviously, Boston has made a name for themselves in recent years for shooting a ton of threes. They led the league in attempts last year, and they were one of the most efficient teams, too. But 60 is a lot.

In fact, of all the teams sitting in the Top 20 when it comes to most attempts in a game in the NBA history, none got particularly close to winning an NBA Championship.

Most of the group is taken up by the James Harden-led Houston Rockets, who capped out at the conference finals. Last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder team threw up 63 in a February contest, but they got bounced in the second round.

Throw in teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz, and post-2022 Golden State Warriors, and it’s not exactly a pristine group.

Joe Mazzulla has done a great job of balancing threes and other forms of offense, and the preseason shouldn’t be a reason to throw up any red flags, but this is certainly a stat to keep track of heading into the regular season.