Celtics mid-season report card

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Fans of the NBA defending champion Boston Celtics who are wondering what is wrong with this year’s squad need look no further than the team’s drop-off in shooting, particularly from the three-point range. This year has been a different story for a team that made its living shooting and making clutch three-point shots during last season’s run to title number 18, the most in NBA history.

Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown, the Celtics’ marquee All-Star performers, have seen their overall and three-point shooting percentages take a dip — Tatum to 47.1% overall and 37.6% from three-point line 2023-2024, compared to 45.5% and 35.8% thus far this season; and Brown 49.9% overall and 35.4% from three-point range last season, compared to 46.1% and 32.2% to this point of the 2024-25 campaign.

Considering that these two men take most of the team’s shots on a night-to-night basis, their downward production gets the most scrutiny. And when one takes into account that Tatum, who had 10.2 attempts this season, up from 8.2 three-point shot attempts per game last season, and Brown, who had 6.0 attempts per game this season, up from 5.9 the year before, the numbers paint a clear picture of the team’s lower scoring, from 120.6 points per game on 48.7% overall field goal shooting last season to 117.2 points per game on 46.0% overall field goal shooting thus far in 2025.

Jalen Brown drives the lane against the Bulls. PHOTO: BOSTON CELTICS/NBA

Tatum and Brown are not the only Celtics who have experienced a down shooting year. A look at team stats shows that Krystaps Porzingis had a 51.6% overall field goal percentage last season and a 48.0% field goal percentage this season. His three-point shooting percentage is up from 37.5% on 5.1 attempts a game in 2024 to 40.5% on 6.0 attempts a game so far. Power forward Al Horford’s field goal percentage is down from 51.1% last season to 40.4%, with a drop off in three-point shooting, 41.9% on 4.0 attempts last year to 35.3% on 5.1 shots a game to date.

Starting guards Jrue Holiday, who had 48% shooting from the floor and 42.9% from three-point range on 4.7 attempts last season, and Derrick White, who had 46.1% overall shooting and 39.6% on 6.8 shots a game from three-point range last season, have also experienced lower shooting percentages. Holiday has 43.8% overall and 34.2% on 5.1 three-point attempts per game. In his defense, he has been playing with a serious shoulder injury. White has a 44.1% overall field goal shooting and 37.8% on 8.8 three-point attempts a game at this point of the current NBA season.

One bright spot for the Celtics has been the play of reserve guard Payton Pritchard, who has flourished in the sixth-man role. Pritchard, who came on strong during the team’s late-season playoff run, has upped his three-point shooting from 38.5% on 4.7 attempts to 41.1% on 7.7 attempts to date, making him a leading candidate for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Overall, team numbers in assists, free throw shooting and defense are down, while three-point shooting has increased from 42.5 to 48.3 per game. This team takes the most three-pointers in the league, 5.3 more than the Chicago Bulls, who are in second place. Critics of the Celtics point out that when they are not hitting three-point shots, they fail to put forth a strong defensive effort, which has led to several of their losses. Their 39-16 record is third best in league standings behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder, each with 44-10 records.

Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis sets up for a long 3. PHOTO: BOSTON CELTICS/NBA

The Celtics are 8-2 in their last 10 games, equaling the mark of the Cavaliers and New York Knicks, who are three of the hottest teams in the league heading into the All-Star break.

The Celtics will face both the Knicks and Cavs in the last week of February, before a showdown on March 2 with the Denver Nuggets, who are currently in third place in the Western Conference with a 36-19 record. At the end of the week, they will renew their rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers and their new point guard Luka Doncic at the TD Garden.

Some believe the Celtics will pick things up following the All-Star break and return to their championship form. They are still considered the team with the best chance to win this year’s NBA title.

The health of Jrue Holiday will be a key factor in the Celtics run for NBA title number 19, and to become the first team since the 2017 and 2018 Golden State Warriors to repeat as NBA champions. It is going to be a tough journey to achieve that goal, especially with all the basketball that Holiday and Tatum have played. They were part of the gold-winning U.S. Olympic basketball team last summer. But with more detail and concentration at the defensive end of the floor, stronger rebounding, both offensive and defensive, and better three-point shooting, the Celtics could be right there at the finish because it is going to take a major effort to beat this NBA defending championship team four times in a best of seven series.

The official grade for the Boston Celtics thus far this season is B-.