BOSTON — The Celtics won their ninth consecutive game with a 117-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden on Tuesday night. He did this despite hitting only five 3-pointers on the evening.
Yes, the Celtics won a game when their 3 balls were not falling. Scary.
Like it or not, the Celtics are a 3-point team in a 3-point league. They lead the NBA with 42.6 shots per game from downtown, and Joe Mazzulla would probably like to see them take even more. (As long as they get open looks, that is.) And Boston is nearly unstoppable when its long-range attack is on, entering Tuesday’s game projected for a 41-3 record when shooting 32 percent or so from beyond the arc. There is better shooting.
While they have many other ways to beat teams, the Celtics struggle when the trio is not losing. So when they hit just 2 of 11 shots from downtown on Tuesday night, it seemed like they were lucky to have a double-digit lead at halftime.
The Celtics hit only three triples in the second half and shot 5 of 22 overall, but that didn’t stop them from taking the game against Philadelphia. With the 76ers being switch-happy and taking away the perimeter, Boston set its sights on dominating the paint. And with Joel Embiid sidelined, Philadelphia was left with no way to counter Boston’s slashers.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum both got their heads down and consistently attacked the hoop on Tuesday, while Kristaps Porzingis continued his dominance in the post. The trio scored over 20 points for Boston and combined for 42 points in the paint. The Celtics finished with a 64–42 edge over the 76ers in the paint.
It was Boston’s first win on making five or fewer threes since 2018, and the 22 3-point attempts were the fewest in three years, According to Celtics statistics guru Dick Leap,
“This game was probably one of our best games of the year, from the standpoint we were able to win in a different way,” Mazzulla said after the win. “And this game showed a sample of how teams will defend us, and it gives us another thing to practice. I thought our guys did a great job.”
The bottom line was that the Celtics were extremely efficient and got some excellent shots on Tuesday, with a true shooting percentage of 64.8. This occurs when a team owns the paint and consistently attacks the hoop, even if they are not attacking from downtown.
“I don’t like threes, I like great shots,” Mazzulla said. “This team has really evolved into taking what the defense gives you every night.”
Brown was in attack mode all night, scoring 28 of his game-high 31 points from the paint or free-throw line. His score in the restricted area was 10 out of 11 and he missed eight of his 10 freebies. He scored 30 points despite taking just 14 shots from the field.
Brown only took two threes on the night, and said he found open looks on the perimeter to dismantle the Philly defense throughout the game.
“Sometimes I’ll pass three times to try to get a paint touch because we need more of those to help our 3-point shooting even more. “Even if I have wide-open shots, I know if the defense falls down, we’ll be able to get some open threes at the line,” Brown said after the win. Will be.”
“He’s always in attack mode,” Mazzulla said of Brown. “I like what Jaylen is doing. I like the work he’s doing, I like the composure he’s playing with on the offensive end, the way he’s getting different baskets. fancy him.”
Brown started strong and kept the Celtics afloat as the team struggled in the first half. Tatum then took over in the fourth and scored 15 of his 29 points in the final frame to thwart any comeback attempt by Philadelphia. Six of those points came in the paint as Tatum set his sights on the rim and the free-throw line. He scored seven points from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and was 10 of 11 overall.
While he was only 1-for-7 from 3-point range, Tatum scored 27 points on 20 shots on Tuesday night. He also added 11 rebounds and a team-high eight assists in the win.
And for good measure, Porzingis added 23 points and 12 rebounds, with eight of his points coming in the paint and a dozen at the free-throw line. No team is going to be able to beat the Celtics if all three of their top players score 20 points despite poor shooting on the night from downtown.
As Mazzulla said, the Celtics’ win despite only hitting five threes was enlightening. It shows players that they have the talent to win in ways other than flying, and Tatum and Brown can usually score from wherever they want.
It was a good reminder of what attacking the basket can do for a team, even if that team is the best in the NBA. There will be nights in the playoffs when three of Boston’s players are not falling, and if the Celtics can pull off Tuesday night’s win, they should be able to avoid some of the losses that have plagued them in previous playoff runs.
