Celtics need lessons from Tommy Heinsohn and Paul Pierce - "Get into the paint"
Guess which NBA team has the lowest percentage of field goals attempted in the paint. It is the Celtics, and they rank dead last at 30th (35.3%) in that category. How about percentage of field goal attempts on 3-pointers. Boston ranks third with 41.1% of their field goal attempted coming from beyond the arc. That needs to change.
The Celtics have so many dudes who are good at this that it's crazy it's even an issue https://t.co/nIV3LP2KH8
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) November 5, 2018
Brad Stevens has stressed this point to his troops for quite a while now. Living or dying via the 3-pointer can be a dangerous business. Sometimes they just don't fall. Going to Plan B, driving to the hoop for a score or foul, is a useful alternative. Paul Pierce did both. No opponent could play him for the three-pointer due to the simple fact that so many of his points came on drives. Nine out of the first 12 of Paul's highlights in this video came on drives. Yes, 9-of-12. Check it out.
I'm frustrated with the C's living by the three and obviously dying by the three way too often.
— Brother Andrej (@BriGGySmaLLzb) November 6, 2018
Why don't they listen to Tommy Heinsohn? ATTACK THE PAINT.
Murray kept going to the rack. C's tried to hit three after three after three.
It's disgusting
It can be argued that relying on 3-pointers works well for Golden State. They rank 29th in percentage of points in the paint, just behind Boston, but they also happen to have guys by the name of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. That fact may quickly put the works-well-for-Golden State argument to sleep as an excuse for the Celtics to launch so may treys.
It takes energy and gumption to dribble into the paint and go for the score or the foul. Much easier to put up shots beyond the arc and hope for the best. If this Celtics team takes a lesson from The Truth - gets into the paint - they may stop hearing announcer Tommy Heinsohn yelling for them to do just that. Their 3-point accuracy is not at the level of the Warriors - not yet!
Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC and Facebook
Photo via LandOfBasketball
Video via NBA
