Geagan: Celtics should stop relying so much on 3-pointers

BOSTON -- When the Celtics are knocking down their threes, they are a nearly unstoppable basketball force. But when they are not knocking down their threes, boy does it get ugly.

Unfortunately, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals was one of those ugly evenings for the Celtics. Ugly may be selling it a bit short, too, as the Celtics missed their first dozen 3-point attempts.

Boston was abysmal from downtown in a 103-84 loss to the Heat, connecting on just nine of 42 attempts from beyond the arc. When that well goes dry, the Celtics usually lose. On Monday night, with the threes not falling, they got blown out on their home court with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.

 Nine of 42. In a close-out/elimination game. In a Game 7. On their home floor.

Jayson Tatum, slowed by an ankle injury on his first shot of the game, was 1-for-4 from deep. Marcus Smart hit one of his six attempts, while Al Horford hit two of his five. Derrick White also made a pair of threes, but he also missed seven others.

No one had a tougher night than Jaylen Brown and his 3-point shot, which was just 1-for-9. Only Brown's handle had a worse Game 7, as he committed eight turnovers. 

Malcolm Brogdon didn't play much with his arm injury, but he still managed to throw up a brick and an airball from downtown in his seven minutes. Grant Williams hit one of his three 3-point attempts off the bench, but was also a minus-19 over just 16 minutes.

Did anyone have success from 3-point range on Monday? (Other than the Heat, that is.) Mike Muscala was Boston's deadliest dead-eye, hitting his lone three in garbage time.

Again, when the Celtics hit their threes, they tend to win and it's pretty entertaining to watch. They were 40-2 during the regular season and playoffs when they hit 39.5 percent of their threes or better.

But on nights like Monday, when the C's shot below 39.4 percent, they were just 28-32.

Boston was able to pull off some late-game magic in Game 6 despite hitting only 20 percent of their shots from 3-point range. But winning back-to-back games with such bad shooting -- Boston was 16-for-77 from three in Games 6 and 7 -- is a pretty tall order for any team.

Unfortunately, Boston's ultra-reliance on the three-ball won't be coming to an end on Joe Mazzulla's watch. Anyone with two hands was urged to shoot a three throughout his first season on the Boston bench, and just seconds after pointing out his team's 21 percent success rate from deep after Monday's loss, Mazzulla instantly answered "No" when asked if the Celtics were too reliant on the deep ball.

We'll see if Brad Stevens feels the same way when it comes time to tinker -- or potentially re-tool -- the Boston roster. Maybe, just maybe, jacking up 40 shots from downtown isn't the best way to try to win ball games on a consistent basis. (A restored focus on the team's defense would be wonderful as well.)

Again, when those shots are going in, the Celtics can really light up the scoreboard. But when they don't, the lights go out just about everywhere else on the floor, too.

And after Boston missed over three-quarters of their three-point attempts in Game 7, the lights are now out on another season as well.