Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla Refutes 3-Point Loving Narrative After Beating 76ers

BOSTON — With Joe Mazzulla at the helm for the last two seasons, the Boston Celtics have operated under the premise that the 3-point shot is the best.

Mazzulla would beg to differ with that narrative, though.

Mazzulla said he wasn’t at all bothered by Boston’s offense doing the majority of its work from in the paint instead of from beyond the arc in a 117-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

The Celtics hoisted only 22 3-pointers, which was by far a season low while scoring 64 points in the paint and tying their season high with 37 free-throw attempts.

“I don’t love threes,” Mazzulla said. “I love great shots.”

The Celtics came into the contest leading the NBA with 42.6 3-point attempts per contest. But it was clear early on against the 76ers that Boston would fall well short of its average with Philadelphia trying to take away the long-range shots. The Celtics only took two shots from beyond the arc in the second quarter.

But Mazzulla was more than pleased to see his team attack a 76ers defense that missed the big presence of Joel Embiid down low.

“We’ve never said we have to win doing this (taking threes). That’s never been stated,” Mazzulla said. “We always take what the defense gives us. We’re one of the best teams at doing that, and that’s kind of our offensive philosophy is take the best shot and find the best shot.”

At points throughout the season, it feels as though the Celtics are in a hurry on the offensive end to put up as many threes as possible.

But star forward Jayson Tatum said Mazzulla has never directed the team to solely focus on 3-point shooting.

“He’s never told us shoot 44 threes a night,” Tatum said. “But it’s all about taking the right shots, respecting each other’s space. Usually, we do a good job of finding the advantage.”

Even with Mazzulla and Tatum trying to shoot down the narrative that Boston is deeply in love with the 3-point shot, it will continually hang around the Celtics until they have more games like they did against the 76ers.