The Boston Celtics are one of the league's best teams over the last decade, with six trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and an NBA Championship during that span. However, their offensive philosophy of hoisting up three-point attempts and isolating their best players has prevented them from achieving greater success.
Most recently, after winning the NBA Championship in 2024, the team failed to meet expectations as back-to-back champions in the 2025 season, in part because they were unable to hold on to 20+ point leads against the New York Knicks during Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Going down 0-2, combined with the loss of Jayson Tatum to a torn Achilles, made for an early playoff exit in six games.
The Celtics need to cool it on the the three-point shots
When Boston gets a big lead in games, the team has shown an unwillingness to break away from the offensive philosophy that got them there. And when the three-pointers stop falling, it can give the opposing team life and easy fastbreak opportunities to convert on the other end.
This trend has shown up again during the team's playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. During game five, the team built a 13-point lead in the third quarter, but continued to hoist three-pointers and failed to get stops on the other end. For the game, Boston converted only 11 of 39 attempts (28%) from three-point range. When the shots aren't falling from long range, the team needs to see some easier shots from the paint or the free-throw line go in before extending the range.
Beyond the team's three-point attempts, what frustrates me as a Celtics fan is that the offensive engine, the team's dynamic wing duo of Tatum and Jaylen Brown, could get anywhere they want on the court. Offensively, they are both so skilled that they could be routinely driving the ball to the paint and getting easier shots for themselves or their teammates, but often they choose to bail the defense out and settle for long-range or contested mid-range shots.
The Celtics have had tremendous success during the last few seasons with multiple deep playoff runs. However, as evidenced by their live-and-die by the three offensive philosophy, if shots aren't falling, they can lose games that they are expected to win.
Boston's offense can become truly unguardable with more variance on offense. With more paint touches, more trips to the free-throw line, and less isolation from the team's star players, this team could easily close out its first-round series and steamroll its way to another NBA Finals appearance.
Add us as a preferred source on Google