Since the start of the preseason, head coach Joe Mazzulla has stressed the importance of finding different ways to win games. Against the Knicks and Wizards, Boston buried them under an avalanche of threes and after hitting 16 more in the first half in Detroit, it looked like more of the same.
However, the Pistons responded, erasing a 23-point first half lead and we’re up six with just over five minutes to go. The math had completely changed. After making half of their 32 attempts from behind the arc and going to the free throw line, the Celtics shot just 6-of-16 from 3 in the second half but went to the line nineteen times.