Driven to success: Brown and Tatum take it to the Magic

In the Celtics’ resounding 121-94 blowout of the Magic, Boston put up the third fewest three-point attempts (37) of the regular season so far. Orlando and their third stingiest defense held them to even fewer just before Christmas (33) to stun the Celtics after Boston lead by 15 points at halftime.

But on Friday night, the defending champs found another way to win.

During this 2-3 stretch since losing to the Thunder, the Celtics shot 61-of-212 (28.8%) from behind the arc and beat writers and fans alike questioned the Mazzulla Ball way. Even after crushing Orlando, head coach Joe Mazzulla still defended the threes they were taking, and thankfully, making last night.

“I more like the way they got their shots. Al got some great kick-out threes from both Jaylen and Jayson. Jrue got two catch-and-shoot looks in the corner. He got two off-the-dribble looks off the pick-and-roll to his left hand,” Mazzulla said. “I like more the types of shots that they’re getting. To me, if we can get those guys good looks within our offense because of the way we’re executing, it just makes us better.”

Sure, the Celtics made a whopping 45.9% from 3, their sixth best night from distance, but it was their relentless rim pressure and paint attack that made the biggest difference. During one particularly strong stretch in the second quarter, Jayson Tatum scored on three consecutive possessions driving the ball.

Zooming out, as one of the most talented rosters in the league, it’s just so jarring to see that the Celtics rank last in open to wide-open two-point shots (8.2 FGA per game); the Bucks and Thunder are virtually tied at 15.9. They’re 26th in the league in shots in the restricted area and 27th in shots in the paint. While they still boast one of the most efficient offenses while shooting a record number of threes, could they be even better if they were a little more aggressive getting to the basket?

Mazzulla and his players have stressed that their perimeter scoring opens up driving lanes for their two star wings and we saw that a lot against the Magic. Let’s rewind. As the 2024 NBA Playoffs progressed towards the Finals, the Celtics drove the ball more.

This strategy unlocked success for the Celtics. With Tatum driving 19.2 times per game and Brown 17.6 times, the Celtics fully capitalized on their spacing. In modern basketball, the goal is to create “paint touches”—getting the ball into the opponent’s paint, where the defense is most vulnerable and forced to make quick decisions. These drives didn’t always result in layups or dunks, but they consistently forced the defense to collapse and recover, generating the best possible shot.

To his credit, Brown has maintained this more aggressive approach. He’s averaging 13.6 drives again — up from 10.1 from last regular season — and generating points at a decent clip (59.2%). For the sake of comparison, Jalen Brunson and Ja Morant drive a little more (19.1 and 16.2 times per game respectively) and score at a slightly higher rate (65% and 61.3%).

Tatum, on the other hand, has maintained his regular season driving production (9.8 drives, 73.5% vs. 9.1 drives, 86.%), but not matched his Finals production. In his defense, he’s in the midst of an MVP-caliber season in part because of his increased playmaking, but it begs the question why driving hasn’t become a larger piece of it.

He’s second in the NBA in pull-up threes at 7.3 attempts per game, but is hitting just 34.9% of those shots. On a night when he was consistently taking advantage of smaller and slower players off the dribble, you have to wonder how much more effective he could be if he turned two or three of those pull-ups into drives instead?

The Celtics have utilized their five-out offense to devastating results. Banner 18 hangs in the rafters as proof. But as opposing teams adjust and try to take away that advantage, it may be time for them to flex another.