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The Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks 133-118 at Madison Square Garden. Boston was without centers Al Horford (lower back stiffness) and Luke Cornett (personal reasons), but the rest of their roster bounced back from the road win. Boston made fewer three-pointers than usual following Friday night’s win over the Chicago Bulls, and the Celtics emptied their quiver from beyond the arc in an undeniably historic offensive performance.
The team set a new franchise record for most threes made in a game with an eye-popping 27 makes, and did so on an ultra-efficient 27-of-51 from range (52.9%). Each of the nine Celtics players who received minutes in New York made at least one three-pointer, becoming the first team in NBA history to do so. With another win, Boston’s record improved to 6-3 on the season.
Joe Mazzulla was asked about the team’s superior shooting performance over the Knicks and how he feels about the team’s shot selection. “I thought we shot better threes,” Mazzulla said, “when we run well, when we have good spacing, when we read the defense, we’re going to get. A big look. When you shoot that volume, I’d say there’s going to be some tough ones, but I think our guys do a great job of shooting the right ones for the most part.
Mazzulla continued, “…because of our spacing, we get good looks most of the time. Now, we learn what a good shot is a good shot, even if we miss four in a row, we still have to guard the other side and not let the offensive result affect us. Defensive effort. Most of the time, we are good at it, but we need to work on it. “
There were times when Boston’s offense sputtered and their shots weren’t going in, and their defense struggled because of it. It’s something the Celtics will need to improve on early this season, but Mazzulla still believes it’s crucial for the team to maintain composure as opposed to letting the other end of the court dictate their effort level. The team also wants to not rely entirely on scoring from deep, as it has definitely taken them out of games, especially in Boston’s opener against the Bulls. From the depths of that game the team came out of the gates strong, rested heavily, and let loose.
“It’s one of those things,” Mazzulla said of the Celtics. “The same thing happened in Chicago. We hit three or four in a row and then we start to relax and think we’ll hit every single one, or we’ll get one easily every time. So it’s just finding that balance of ‘take the greats, but when we get a touch of paint, we can get a touch of paint.’
Compared to the rest of the league, Boston is one of the most elite shooting teams and currently leads the NBA (16 3PM) and is second behind Golden State in attempts per game (40.7 3PA/G) and per round. Just outside the top five in three-point shooting percentage (39.3 3P%). While that may not be the only way the team can or should score, the numbers behind Boston’s high-powered offense in a nine-game sample size are promising. For Mazzulla, it’s no mystery why Boston has remained an offensive juggernaut thus far.
“We’ve got great shooters,” Mazzulla said, “we’ve got great shooters, we’ve got great players. We’ve got guys who can put the two on the ball and create. So when you’re a little bit smaller and have more space, you’ve got to take that first great shot, and that’s a credit to our guys and I think that’s good for our team right now. I think
Without Robert Williams and veteran sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari, the Celtics have one of the league’s deadliest offenses bolstered by a strong bench unit led by Malcolm Brogdon. They currently sit at 6-3, with two of their three losses coming in overtime to a red-hot Cavaliers team — all of them under a new head coach. Given all the offseason turmoil Boston ended up with, they found themselves doing some damage.
The Celtics will face one of their toughest matchups of the season on Monday night, where they will face Memphis with tipoff at 9PM EST.
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