Former Lakers Champion Reignites Hated Rivalry With Celtics

"I think they fell in love with the three ball too much. You have the success last year doing it, but [don't] forget Jaylen Brown is not an efficient three-point shooter. He won MVP for you in the Finals and how did he do that? By just going to the hole and getting buckets. When you shoot a lot of threes, you don't want to work hard. It's easy to get off the three compared to getting to the hole and pulling up for a jumper. It's a lot of work. Kobe Bryant did it. And look at the MVP this year, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

"He doesn't shoot a lot of threes, he manufactures points by getting to the basket and getting to the free throw line. You can't just settle like the Celtics did this year. I think they had the fat cat syndrome more than anybody and they just settled for a lot of threes because it was easy."

Boston's reliance on the three-ball certainly was a contributing factor in losing to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In the Game 1 loss, Boston set NBA playoffs records for the most three-point shots attempted in a single game (60) as well as the most misses (45).

In the third quarter of this game, 19 of their 20 shot attempts were from beyond the arc. For the entire second half, 41 shots were attempted...and 34 were threes.

Certainly, some sort of philosophical change must occur, given the leads Boston blew in multiple games. The over-reliance on threes leads to a lack of aggressiveness, and that permeates through the team on both ends of the floor.

Ironically enough, the sage advice from an ex-Lakers player should be something Boston listens to as it approaches the offseason.

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