BOSTON — The Celtics launched 60 threes in their Game 1 loss to the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns expects them to fire off 60 more in Game 2.
“They’re the defending champions, so they know what they need to do, and obviously I expect them to shoot 3s again,” Towns said after morning shootaround at TD Garden on Wednesday. “They were the best 3-point shooting team the league has ever seen statistically, so it’s our job to continue to try to make it difficult on them to make those 3s.”
Boston shot just 25% from deep in the series opener, converting 15 of 60 from behind the arc. They went 4-of-14 in the first quarter, 1-of-9 in the second, and just 2-of-15 in the fourth, when the Knicks clawed back from a 20-point deficit to force overtime and steal the win, 108-105.
The cold stretch continued a trend from Round 1. After leading the league in both three-point attempts and makes during the regular season, Boston tied Orlando for the second-fewest threes attempted in the opening round.
“Obviously [the Celtics] had some shots that they didn’t make that [are] makable shots for them,” starting forward Josh Hart said in a Zoom call with reporters on Tuesday. “I feel like we executed our game plan, we played with physicality, with energy, we flew around. We had times in there where we were disruptive.”
The Knicks aren’t expecting a change in approach. Boston isn’t about to veer from the formula that made them the East’s top seed and defending champs — and Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t sound like a coach about to ask his team to stop letting it fly.
“What we do best is read the defense and take the best shot available,” Mazzulla said on Tuesday. “If the open ones go in, we’re not having this conversation, but since they didn’t, we have to have it and we have to be better in certain areas.”
New York is anticipating a sharper, more aggressive Celtics team in Game 2. Boston entered the series as a 9.5-point favorite, and the Knicks are treating their Game 1 win like a blip, not a breakthrough.
Nearly 93% of teams to take a 2-0 lead in a playoff series go on to advance. But the Knicks aren’t thinking that far ahead.
“We have to execute at a higher level in Game 2,” Towns said Wednesday morning. “We have to just concentrate on tonight. We have to go out there and compete at a high level.
“I mean it’s the NBA playoffs. You should expect competition to be at its highest. … I think the fans are getting some great basketball right now.”
