10/39 from distance, just 25.6% from behind the arc, here are the Celtics’ statistics on long distance shooting last night. Filthy! Despite this, Boston – which tends to rely a lot on its distance skills – offered itself another victory against the Mavericks. Proof that C’s don’t always live or die by their level of skill.
#CelticsWin pic.twitter.com/RQqgYtGkw4
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1799991892777599359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Jaylen Brown, 1/5. Jayson Tatum, 1/7. Al Horford, 1/3. Kristaps Porzingis, 0/3. Sam Hauser, 0/5. We are therefore down to five Celtics with very dirty percentages by far in Game 2. To compensate, there is certainly 4/10 from Derrick White, 2/4 from Jrue Holiday and 1/2 from Payton Pritchard. But overall, the Cs were in big trouble from the parking lot last night.
The 3-point shot, as we know, tends to be a big X-factor on the Greens’ results. But lack of skill wasn’t really an issue for Boston tonight. To compensate for the oily hands of the Celts, Boston offered a lot of aggression towards the circle, notably Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who attacked this Texan racket relentlessly. 7/10 on 2-points for JB, Jayson Tatum was only 5/15 but his activity in other areas compensated.
TWO MORE ✅✅#DifferentHere pic.twitter.com/x8VbCCJBZS
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1799994877259989471?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Jrue Holiday was able to take advantage of all these spaces/openings to send 26 points and 3 assists tonight, at 9/10 on non-winning shots. The Celtics did what makes them practically unplayable: get the racket, recover from fouls and punish on the penalty line. 20 shots taken, 19 successful, basketball is easy in these conditions! Especially when we defend like starving people all the time.
The Celts proved it: even on a night without skill, they can beat an NBA finalist without too much difficulty. With two games remaining to capture the title, it is difficult to see what could prevent Boston from being ringed at the end of the season as they have so many offensive options.
CELTICS ARE 2 WINS AWAY FROM AN NBA TITLE ☘️ pic.twitter.com/GAlDcvZn4r
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1799992226648330512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
