The defending champion Boston Celtics suddenly find themselves on the brink of an upset after losing the first two games of their second round series against the New York Knicks.
Wednesday night’s 91-90 loss was a near perfect replica of Monday’s Game 1, in which the Celtics built a 20-point lead despite poor shooting that the Knicks were able to erase in the fourth quarter. Both games even ended on a stellar defensive play from Mikal Bridges.
The Knicks are now up 2-0 and Boston has nothing to show for its homestand to open the series. Well, almost nothing. The remarkably terrible shooting percentages up and down the roster have led to the Celtics making the wrong kind of NBA history.
Over Game 1 and Game 2, the C’s shot 25-of-100 from three-point land. Their 75 misses from beyond the arc are the most in a two-game span in NBA playoff history. In Game 1, Boston went 15-of-60 from beyond the arc; the 45 misses also made for an NBA playoff record. Game 2 obviously didn’t bring much in the way of improvement, with the team hitting 10 of its 40 three-point tries.
It is a pretty brutal stretch of terrible shooting from the 2024 champs. But that is the identity head coach Joe Mazzulla built for his team. As long as the Celtics do not shoot historically poorly, they have a great chance to win every game. And even when they do, they still have a hope of winning. The first two games of this series have proven that much with the C’s setting NBA records for bad shooting yet their margin of defeat adds up to four points.
How and if Boston will adjust will be a major storyline heading into Game 3. If the Celtics do not, they may write another ignominious record into the history books.
