セルティックスに必要なのはショットドクターであり、もう一人のスリーポイントシューターではない

This Ain't the 90s, But It Should Be

You see the Celtics out there, right? They're supposed to be this juggernaut, a lock for the Finals. And then they go play the Hawks, a team barely treading water, and it's a grind. Boston won, 101-100, on Wednesday night, thanks to Dejounte Murray missing a potential game-winner at the buzzer. Lucky, if you ask me. I watched that game and it felt like both teams were just waiting for the other to miss. Where’s the precision? Where’s the mid-range mastery? It’s all about the three-ball now, and it’s making for some ugly basketball.

Back in my day, if you had a guy like Jayson Tatum, he’d be posting up, working in the paint, getting to the line. Tatum put up 26 points against Atlanta, sure, but he shot 10-for-24 from the field, including 3-for-10 from deep. That's not efficient. Larry Bird wouldn't have stood for that kind of shot selection. He'd have him in the gym, working on that turn-around jumper from 15 feet. That's a lost art, I tell ya.

The Mid-Range Drought is Killing the Game

Here’s the thing: everyone wants to shoot from Steph Curry range. Trae Young for the Hawks, he's a prime example. He's got talent, no doubt, but it's all deep threes or drives to the rim. He had 13 assists against Boston, which is great, but also 5 turnovers. The Hawks, as a team, shot 11-for-39 from beyond the arc. That's 28.2%. You can't win like that consistently, especially not against good teams. You need balance. You need guys who can hit that little elbow jumper when the three isn't falling.

Look, I get it. The analytics guys tell you the three is more valuable. But what about the flow of the game? What about drawing fouls in the paint, creating opportunities? Jaylen Brown, he had a strong game with 26 points on 10-for-20 shooting, but even he's mostly attacking the rim or launching from outside. Where's the Billups-esque pull-up? The Jordan fadeaway? It's just not there. This Celtics team is great, no question, but they rely too much on volume shooting from distance. If their threes aren't dropping, they struggle, even against a team like the Hawks who are 10th in the East right now.

I predict the Celtics will win the East, but they'll get exposed in the Finals if they don't develop some more reliable interior offense and a consistent mid-range game. You can't live and die by the three against a fully healthy Denver Nuggets team.