Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks after hitting a 3-pointer against the Denver Nuggets, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell celebrates after hitting a triple in the second half of a game against the Boston Celtics on December 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tyrese Haliburton, point guard for the Indiana Pacers, celebrates a triple against the Portland Trail Blazers, Wednesday, November 27, 2024 (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Alperen Sengun, center of the Houston Rockets, hits a triple against the Indiana Pacers, Wednesday, November 20, 2024 (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith) Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, of the San Antonio Spurs, celebrates a triple against the Golden State Warriors, on Saturday, November 23, 2024 (AP Photo/Darren Abate) Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Boston Celtics are clearly betting on that philosophy as they seek to repeat as champions.
All NBA three-point shooting numbers are on the rise once again. The league maintains a record pace in both three-pointers made and attempts. This cannot be construed as a surprise, given that there has been a steady increase in those numbers league-wide for more than a decade.
But the Celtics rely on the 3-pointer like no team in NBA history — on pace to break league records for 3-pointers made and attempted in a season — and other teams are taking note of the plan.
“When we’re at our best, you have to understand it,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “This is what we do. … At the end of the day, we are trying to be the best version of ourselves more than other people.”
The best version of the Celtics is the version that includes shooting from distance and doing it often. You are not alone in that kind of thinking. Of the 30 NBA teams, 13 are on pace to shoot more 3-pointers this season than they ever have before.
“It helps, for sure, and our guys have really worked on it,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team is one of 13 — along with Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Orlando , Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio and Washington — at a franchise-record pace for 3-point attempts. “It all works together, though. It can’t just be three-pointers and it can’t just be attacking in the paint.”
It’s absurd to say that one statistic — aside from points, obviously — can dictate winning or losing, but it seems like an advantage in three-pointers made equals wins.
So far this season, the team that shoots the most three-pointers in a game wins 53% of the time. The team that scores the most three-pointers wins 67% of the time. If a team makes five more three-pointers than its opponent, it wins 75% of the time. And if a team makes 10 more threes than its opponent, it’s game over: Those clubs, after the Celtics did it to the Heat on Monday, are now 31-0 this season.
“You have to be willing to shoot,” Toronto coach Darko Rajaković said. “Players at this level, they spend so much time working on their shot — working in the offseason, working in season — you have to have the confidence to take those shots.”
Only two teams in league history — the Houston Rockets in 2018-19 and the Utah Jazz in 2020-21 — have finished a season scoring more points from 3-pointers than from two-pointers.
That club will have one or two new members when this season ends.
This is an example of how what Boston is doing has never been seen before. The Celtics are getting 47% of their points from three-pointers and just 37% from two-pointers, an unprecedented difference. (And most of those two-pointers are at the rim.) Meanwhile, Charlotte are getting 45% on three-pointers, 42% on two-pointers.
It is almost unheard of to rely so much on the triple. The Jazz scored 43% of their points on three-pointers in 2020-21, 42% on two-pointers. The Rockets scored 42% of their points on three-pointers in 2018-19, 41% on two-pointers.
Charlotte is in her first year under coach Charles Lee — who, it should be noted, coached in Boston last season under Mazzulla. It’s not a stretch to conclude that Lee brought Boston’s three-point shooting mentality to Charlotte and gave the green light to its shooters.
“We are challenging them in many different ways,” Lee said.
There have been six instances to start this week of a player taking at least 18 3-pointers in a game this season. One was by Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana. Another was by Boston’s Jayson Tatum. The other four were Charlotte players — three with LaMelo Ball (including the first game of the NBA season with 20 3-point attempts) and the other with Brandon Miller.
This is all happening in an era where basically everyone is shooting 3-pointers and it has been that way for some time.
The Heat played a game last week in which Spoelstra used 10 players and all of them attempted at least two 3-pointers in a game. Of the league’s top 200 scorers this season in terms of total points, 95% of them have made at least one 3-pointer. And the 5% who aren’t in that group are all post players who almost never venture beyond the arc — guys like Ivica Zubac, Jakob Poeltl, Daniel Gafford, Jarrett Allen, Clint Capela and Rudy Gobert.
Rajaković doesn’t see this increased reliance on three-pointers ending anytime soon.
“If you do them, great, go back to the gym and work and get more,” Rajaković said. “If you miss them, go back to the gym and work and get more.”
___
This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
FUENTE: Associated Press
