Strides

Boston's core wings have all gotten better at the things they needed to get better at

In two years at Oklahoma State, Marcus Smart made only 29.5 percent of his 295 three-point attempts. Through his first four years in the NBA, Smart was actually slightly worse from beyond the arc, connecting on just 29.3 percent of his 1,094 attempted treys. For all intents and purposes, he appeared to be a sub-30 percent three-point shooter. That’s just what he was.

In one year at Cal, Jaylen Brown “scored just .853 points per possession over 17.2 possessions per game to rank 149th in scoring efficiency among the 173 players using over 17 opportunities per game according to Synergy Sports Technology.” Brown struggled pretty badly to create his own looks, with “45 percent shooting around the rim in the half court and top-100 leading per-40 minute pace adjusted turnover rate.” His first year in the NBA, Brown shot just 26.4 percent on pull-up jumpers and 36.1 percent on shots taken after at least three dribbles. He also had more turnovers than assists in each of his first two seasons.

In one year at Duke, Jayson Tatum had 76 turnovers and only 62 assists. He was roundly criticized for settling for too many contested mid-range jumpers, and for not living up to the defensive potential his combination of size, length, and quickness suggested he had. In his first two years in the league, Tatum continued to settle for too many mid-rangers, contested or not, and he showed that defensive potential in only fits and starts.

Fast forward to 2020, and each of these players has mitigated all of these issues.

Smart has made 35.5 percent of his threes over the past two seasons. Brown got to 38.1 percent on pull-up jumpers over the past three seasons, which still is not very good but it’s worlds better than the 26.4 percent mark he posted during his rookie season. And off three or more dribbles, Brown made 49.6 percent of his shots across the past three years, far better than the 36.1 percent figure from his debut campaign. Tatum dramatically slashed his mid-range rate this season, emerged as one of the league’s most versatile defenders, and set career highs in assists per game, per 36 minutes, per whatever you want to break them down by, as well as the share of his teammates’ baskets he assisted while on the floor.

In their Game 2 win over the Raptors, we saw all of these improvements combine to push the Celtics to a come-from-behind win. Smart made five threes in the fourth quarter. Brown made two of his four pull-up jumpers. Tatum scored from all three levels and paraded himself to the free-throw line all night. He defended Kyle Lowry on important possessions. Smart and Brown kept switching their matchups to keep Kemba Walker out of the main action, not allowing Toronto to capitalize on mismatches.

The combination of size and skill these guys have is extraordinarily tough to deal with. It’s Boston’s biggest advantage in this series. And the key to their future.