Celtics, Knicks Disagree About Popular Game 1 Narrative

The Celtics’ 3-point volume became the storyline after their Game 1 loss at TD Garden on Monday.

It arguably cost Boston an opportunity to go up in the Eastern Conference semifinals, as the C’s broke the postseason record for most 3-point attempts and misses. Instead, the New York Knicks stormed back from a 20-point deficit to steal homecourt advantage over Joe Mazzulla’s side.

Jayson Tatum admitted he felt the 3-pointers he shot were good looks, but Jaylen Brown felt the Celtics settled too much. The All-NBA wing brought up an interesting theory about why that was the case.

“(In the first round) Orlando kind of took the 3-point line away,” Brown told reporters, per The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “I felt like tonight they were kind of daring us to shoot. They wanted us to shoot those shots. And we didn’t make them.”

The Magic were the best team in the NBA in limiting 3-point shots, so it made sense that the Celtics’ outside shooting would open up in the second round. However, according to one Knicks contributor, the 3-point volume was more coincidence than strategy.

“I don’t think you want to force them into threes. We don’t want them to shoot more threes,” Josh Hart told reporters, per CLNS Media. “They got great shooters, man. …You never want a team like that to shoot more threes.”

Karl-Anthony Towns admitted New York was fortunate that Boston missed as many shots as it did. That might be an excuse Green Teamers will use, but the Celtics know they simply need to play better in Game 2 on Wednesday.