Celtics
Payton Pritchard hit the shot that broke the record.
Move over, Golden State. The Celtics now own the NBA record for most made 3-pointers in a single season.
Boston broke the record when Payton Pritchard pulled up for a deep three a little bit off to the side from the TD Garden logo with 8:21 remaining in the second quarter.
The high-arcing shot hit nothing but net, and it was Boston’s 1,364th 3-point make of the season. The Warriors set the previous mark in 2023, a year after they beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals in 2022.
Boston has five games left on its regular-season schedule, so they will likely push the record even further.
Three Celtics (Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Pritchard) have more than 240 3-point makes this season.
White, who entered the game with 249, is currently the franchise’s single-season record holder. According to NBC Sports Boston statistician Dick Lipe, White became the first player in NBA history with 250 threes and 75 blocks in a season during the game.
Boston entered Friday’s contest with 156 more 3-point makes than Cleveland, who is in second in that category.
Boston has been aggressive with its 3-point shooting strategy throughout Joe Mazzulla’s time as head coach.
This season, though, they’ve managed to take things to another level. The majority of their shot attempts have been threes. They’re averaging 48 3-point attempts, and 90 field-goal attempts per game.
Boston is shooting 36.9 percent from 3-point range as a team, good for eighth in the league. That’s down from last year’s 38.8 percent which was second. The volume has increased. The Celtics are taking around six more threes per game than last season.
The TD Garden didn’t get to see 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant, who was sidelined with an ankle sprain, Friday night. But, they did get to witness a slice of NBA history as the Celtics grabbed the record.
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