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If there’s one thing that shakes the very foundation of a reigning NBA champion, it’s a sudden crash in shooting efficiency—especially when you’ve got a 20-point lead in a playoff game. Monday night’s clash between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks felt like watching a thriller unravel in slow motion. The Celtics, champions still in their crown, looked less like the juggernauts we’ve come to revere and more like a shooting gallery plagued by misses at the worst possible moments. And when your bread and butter is the three-point shot—as it’s been all season—dropping from a usual 38 percent on open looks to a shimmering 25 percent raises some serious eyebrows. So, what really went wrong? Was it just an off night, or a sign of something deeper? And, more tantalizingly, can the Celtics recalibrate fast enough to silence the doubters come Game 2? Let’s dig into the stats behind the stumble and ponder if Boston’s famed resilience can fire back before the Knicks make this series their own.
The Boston Celtics are still the reigning NBA champions, but they were not looking like it on Monday night.
The Celtics gave up a big lead to the New York Knicks during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, and everyone is looking at what went wrong.
Keith Smith dug into the numbers and highlighted Boston’s biggest problems.
According to him, they were 0-for-0 versus very tight defense, 1-of-4 versus tight defense, 7-of-32 on open shots, and 7-of-24 on wide-open shots.
They were 14-for-56, or 25 percent, on open to wide-open shots, and usually the Celtics shoot 38 percent on those.
These numbers are not encouraging, so can they change in Game 2?
Celtics three-point shooting in Game 1 loss vs Knicks per NBA tracking data:
0-for-0 vs very tight defense
14-for-56 or 25% on open to wide-open shots.
In the regular season Boston shot 38% on…
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 6, 2025
The Celtics had a 20-point lead during the game, but the Knicks stuck with it and chipped away, eventually forcing overtime and then walking away with a huge road victory.
Their shooting was a problem all night long, even when they were far ahead.
The Celtics have been devoted to the three-point shot all season, and that was definitely true on Monday.
However, the problem was that their shots weren’t falling, and they still didn’t change their approach.
This allowed a path for the Knicks, and they took full advantage of it.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla is no slouch, and he is surely going to look at these numbers, adjust his plan, and try to fix what went wrong on Monday night.
Does that mean the Celtics will play a very different type of basketball in Game 2?
These stats have to improve, or else the Knicks will consistently have a way to win in this series.
It is time for the Celtics to once again prove why they are one of the most feared teams in the league.
The post Stat Reveals Major Concern About Celtics’ Shooting In Game 1 appeared first on The Cold Wire.
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