Ime Udoka offers surprising reaction to Celtics’ historic 3-point woes originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics weren’t just bad from 3-point range against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, they were historically bad.
Boston shot 9.5 percent from beyond the arc in a 91-82 loss at TD Garden, the second-worst percentage by a team in NBA history on at least 40 attempts from 3.
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Celtics coach Ime Udoka, however, said that he loved what the team did offensively in terms of getting great looks.
“I thought they were great looks. they played a lot of zone,” Udoka said. “We played unselfish, attacked the basket, they collapsed and we missed some wide-open shots — more than you could count. That’s the first thing everyone’s going to look at, that number. Of course, you’d like to make a few and the outcome would be different.”
Four players attempted three or more 3-pointers and failed to make one, led by Al Horford’s 0 for 7 showing. Jaylen Brown made one 3-pointer…but missed 12 more.
The Celtics missed their final 15 attempts from 3-point range, finishing the fourth quarter alone 1 for 18.
Udoka had criticisms for some other things the Celtics did (or didn’t do) against the Clippers, but the shot selection didn’t appear to be one of them.
“We were a little sloppy in transition on some easy ones we could’ve had, we didn’t get to the free throw line a ton, but I love what we did offensively as far as getting the great looks, the unselfish looks,” Udoka said. “It’s not going to fall every time; of course, we’ve heard that too many times this year.”