BOSTON — For weeks, the Celtics’ starting backcourt couldn’t buy a three-point basket. The hallmark shot that became the bread and butter of the Celtics offense throughout the Joe Mazzulla era was falling at a strikingly low rate, and two of the team’s best shooters were at the center of the struggles.
In October, Payton Pritchard shot 17.4% from three, down from 40.7% from last season.
Derrick White shot 25.4%, down from 38.4%.
Both sharpshooters maintained they were getting clean looks that simply weren’t dropping.
The life of a shooter, right?
But, as the Celtics’ three-point efficiency neared the bottom of the league, both players expressed their frustration regarding the mounting misses.
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“I feel like it’s been back-and-forth – like who’s struggling more?” White said Wednesday.
Almost a month into the regular season, the tides are beginning to turn. The Celtics have won three of four games, their offensive rating is the 8th-best in the league, and things are looking up in the shooting department.
On Wednesday, in the Celtics’ blowout win against the Memphis Grizzlies, White and Pritchard combined for 8 three-pointers on 16 attempts (White shot 3 of 6, Pritchard 5-10).
Then, on Sunday afternoon, in a 121-118 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, the duo put together their best collective three-point shooting performance of the season; White hit 4 of 8 attempts, while Pritchard sank 8 of 13 shots from beyond the arc.
“The last two games, I’ve kind of said, like, F it and just shoot it — one motion, just let it fly and don’t worry about the form,” Pritchard said. “All the work should carry it. So, that’s kind of been my mindset, and I should continue with that.”
For Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, there was never a doubt that the shooting was going to come around for both his starting guards.
“It was definitely inevitable,” Mazzulla said. “Just because of who they are as players, and how hard they work.”
But for the players themselves, the early-season slump proved challenging
“I was frustrated, obviously, especially when you think you’re getting good looks,” White said earlier this week, adding: “I’ve tried almost everything, a little bit of everything, trying to break out of it.”
At times, Pritchard and White discussed their collective slump. But, for the most part, they dealt with the struggles on their own.
“Sometimes it’s tough because everybody’s talking to you about it like, ‘Keep trying, keep shooting, we believe in you’ — just hearing from that every person,” White said. “So, you sometimes want to just give him some space and let him process it his own way.”
“Everybody has something to say,” Pritchard said with a smile. “Everybody’s a basketball genius, but I feel like I listen to the people that matter, and then make my decision off that.”
Ultimately, Pritchard concluded that he had been too focused on correcting his shot. Last week, he decided he’d simply go back to the basics and stop overthinking the very mechanics he had been trying to perfect.
“I consider myself a good shooter, and you’re always searching for how to be better at shooting, right?” he said. “And sometimes I can overcomplicate my form and try to overcorrect everything. I got in the habit of doing that for the first 10 games — overthinking every step of how I want my form to look perfectly.”
It’s a level of perfectionism that’s not new to the reigning Sixth Man of the Year.
“Since I’ve been a little kid, I’ve overanalyzed everything, and it’s what’s made me good,” Pritchard said. “But, at times it can be detrimental. So, just get back and believe in the shooter I am.”
Payton Pritchard, Derrick White are finally finding a rhythm
In his last two games, Pritchard is averaging 27 points and shooting 56% from three.
White, meanwhile, is averaging 21 points and shooting 50% from three. And, he’s scored 18 or more points in his last four games, after only eclipsing that mark twice in the first 10 games of the season.
Relatedly, the Celtics have won 3 of 4 — and the offense is opening up for the rest of the roster.
On Sunday, the duo combined for 52 points (on 33 shots), 11 assists, and just 1 turnover.
Once it became clear that Pritchard was amid a hot streak on Sunday, the Clippers increased their defensive focus on him, which opened up looks around the basket for players like Neemias Queta and Jaylen Brown (both of whom missed an uncharacteristic number of layups).
“It just changes the way that teams have to defend us in the pick and roll,” Mazzulla said. “And so that’s a correlation to the restricted area layups that we got.”
Pritchard certainly won’t shoot 8 of 13 from three every night — nobody does.
And, both he and White will undoubtedly go through many more highs and lows this season — as all outside shooters do. Some Celtics players remain in a slump; Sam Hauser, the team’s top shooter last season, is shooting just 20.6% from beyond the arc in November. Almost inevitably, someone on the roster will be struggling at all times. That’s just the nature of the game.
But one thing is clear: when the Celtics’ starting backcourt is feeling it, this team is far more formidable. The Celtics led by as many as 24 against the Clippers, and Pritchard’s early onslaught, in particular, was a big reason why.
“We just can’t allow Pritchard to get going,” Ty Lue said after the game, per Justin Turpin of WEEI. “Him and Derrick White are huge for that team. They’re keys for that team. When they’re making shots, they’re a totally different team.”
Still, Pritchard isn’t satisfied
After the Clippers game, I asked him if he finally felt like he put together a complete offensive performance. So far this season, he’s shook his head no everytime I’ve asked.
But his 30 points, 10 made field goals, and 8 three-pointers all marked new season highs. So, maybe, just maybe, this time, he’d satisfied.
“How many assists I have?” he asked. “Two?”
I confirmed just that — he had two dimes.
