So far this season the Boston Celtics have struggled to find their rhythm from the three point range.

Despite having some hot streaks in games like against the Cleveland Cavaliers they haven’t managed to turn these hot streaks into sustained success from beyond the arc.

The Celtics of the past two years have been known for their ability to routinely make shots from beyond the arc.

With players like Derrick White, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard in particular being known for being elite at making shots from beyond the arc.

As a team in the 2023/2024 season the Celtics shot 38.8 per cent from three point range. Which was the second highest in the league just behind Oklahoma City Thunder who shot 38.9 per cent.

However, the Celtics made the most threes per game and also attempted the most threes per game at 16.5 and 42.5 respectively.

In the last season this percentage dropped to 36.8 per cent but their average made shots and three point attempts sky rocketed. As they made 17.8 per game and attempted 48.2 per game. Which was by far the most in the league.

During this season the Celtics had two of the top five players for most three pointers made across the season in White and Pritchard who made 265 and 255 three pointers each. As well as Jayson Tatum who ranked seventh with 250 three pointers.

It isn’t just the volume of threes that were impressive it was the percentage at which these players were making the threes. As Pritchard shot 40.7 per cent from three all from off the bench in the 2024/25 season and White was 38.4 per cent. As well as Hauser shooting 41.6 per cent making a total of 166 threes.

Showing that all of these players were consistent and reliable with the ball from the beyond arc.

Which is something that hasn’t been on display at the start of the new season.

2025-2026 three point worries

With star player Tatum being out injured for the foreseeable future after suffering an achilles injury during the playoff series against the New York Knicks. This put more importance in the hands of Pritchard and White especially with the new look Celtics roster.

As they now have to make up for losing a star that can score 30 plus points on any given night.

The loss of Tatum also means the loss of spacing for players like Pritchard, White and Hauser who now no longer get the wide open shots they are used to getting. As teams don’t have to double up defensively on Tatum and can instead go man to man against the Celtics offence.

Without the spacing and playmaking from Tatum it has often led to the Celtics taking contested shots or having to create shots through isolation possessions which is not one of their strengths. Instead what they thrived on in the past was elite ball movement and players constantly being on the move finding the open spaces on the court around the arc.

Sam Hauser hasn’t particularly been affected by this as his three point percentage is still above 40 per cent as he is still one of the few reliable players from beyond the arc for Mazzulla’s side.

However, Pritchard and White have been the main strugglers this season as they have shot 21.3 per cent and 26.3 per cent from three point range. Which is not something that anybody is used to seeing from these two players.

These struggles can come down to a magnitude of reasons but one of the main factors is not having the level of spacing on the court as they have done in previous years.

As previously they have managed to put out lineups where all five players on the court are able to knock down shots from three so it made it hard for opposition teams to stop the Celtics offence which benefitted both White and Pritchard massively.

So now that both of these players are seeing more defensive attention it has become a lot harder for them to knock down their shots consistently as they are usually heavily contested whenever they go for a three point attempt.