The theme of Joe Mazzulla’s day-after news conference could be summed up in one sentence:
“If the open ones go in, we’re not having this conversation.”
He was referring, of course, to the 60 3-pointers his Celtics launched in Monday night’s Game 1 loss to the New York Knicks at TD Garden, a new single-game postseason record. Boston missed 45 of those — also a playoff record — en route to blowing a 20-point third-quarter lead and falling 108-105 in overtime.
Though he acknowledged there were “10 or 11 (shots) you could probably take back,” Mazzulla said he “loved the vast majority” of them despite the fact that just 15 found the basket.
The Celtics head coach underscored this opinion during one exchange with a reporter who asked him about Boston’s defense against New York’s 3-point shooters. The Knicks were able to generate a number of open looks from deep during their comeback and made more than 50% of their second-half threes.
When that success rate was mentioned, a wry smile appeared on Mazzulla’s face.
“So they made them? Man, what a novel idea,” he quipped. “That’s a novel concept, huh? Just make ‘em when you’re open? Yeah.”
Pressed to answer the original question, Mazzulla added:
“It’s such a cool duality of your question to where I’m getting asked all the ones that we missed and you come in and start with, ‘Well, they shot 50% (from three) in the second half.’ And I’m like, oh man, the duality of that question is really cool to talk about. You know what I mean? So, sorry. We start the press conference off by saying, you know, you took all these and you missed ‘em. And then you say they shot 50% in the second half from three. Yeah, you’ve got to make them. Duality at its finest.”
Fifty-six of the 60 threes Boston attempted in the loss were classified as “open” or “wide-open” by NBA player tracking. The Celtics shot 35% and 41% in those situations during the regular season, respectively. On Monday, they went 7-for-32 on open looks (22%) and 7-for-24 on wide-open looks (29%).
Hit just a few more of those makeable shots, Mazzulla said, and the outcome would have been different.
Still, Celtics stars Jayson Tatum (4-for-15 from three in the loss) and Jaylen Brown (1-for-10) both said they regretted essentially abandoning their interior game after halftime, especially since top defensive targets Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson both entered the second half with three fouls.
Boston’s offensive approach will be a top storyline as the Celtics look to even the second-round series in Game 2 on Wednesday.