Are the Boston Celtics shooting too many threes?


Sometimes, bad habits come back.


That's what makes them habits, after all, and while as part of a balanced diet of buckets attained from a variety of ways, three-point shooting represents the most important component of the modern game.

So, when the Boston Celtics threw away a winnable game by bombing away from beyond the arc versus the Indiana Pacers Saturday night, they managed to demonstrate how to abuse the offensive tool as much as their showing against the Milwaukee Bucks was a clinic in the reverse.

As the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn notes, the team went nearly 28 minutes without a trip to the charity stripe. The team currently ranks third-to-last in free throws, and are over-reliant on shooting high-percentage two-point shots away from the basket, too (I'm looking at you, Jayson Tatum, though oddly NOT at Marcus Morris).

Saturday's loss is not a big one in the grand scheme of things should the Celts do the smart thing and work on plays that will get a man deep into the paint instead of the game of hot-potato-assassin they have played at their worst this season; when they play to their potential, this team is nearly unstoppable.

It's not a question of "too many threes"; it's like any other diet - when you don't get enough variety, you're liable to come down with a case of malnutrition from time to time.

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Image: Brent Smith/AP
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