Boston’s Best-Kept Secret: Surprise Backcourt Combo Emerging as…

Are the Boston Celtics suddenly Golden State Warriors East?

During the Warriors’ prime, they were an up-tempo, 3-point shooting superteam that didn’t skimp on the other end of the hardwood. For their era, they shot more triples than anyone else, while their best players were perennial All-Stars and/or All-Defensive Team honorees.

All-NBA Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum, Boston’s best player (who, much like Curry, also did not get named Finals MVP during his team’s first title with him in the fold) may not be quite the NBA-altering offensive supernova that Golden State All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry was in his prime, but the 26-year-old is still one of the league’s best players, and a staple on All-NBA teams.

But in one other, key way, a surprise Boston backcourt duo has been mimicking the kind of prolific 3-point marksmanship enjoyed by Curry and his longtime fellow “Splash Brother,” former five-time All-Star Warriors swingman Klay Thompson (now in his first season with the 17-10 Dallas Mavericks). This season, leading Celtics Sixth Man of the Year contender Payton Pritchard and All-Defensive guard Derrick White are actually making more of their triple tries against that dynamic Warriors duo did over the duration of their career together. Per Stat Muse, the White-Pritchard combo is averaging 7.6 made treys to the Warriors pair’s 7.2, at a comparable 41.3 percent conversion rate to Golden State’s 42.3 percent.

The Celtics are, by far, the league’s leaders in 3-point shooting. Their 51.3 percent triple tries a game would represent an NBA record if it carried over across a single season, and it towers over the second-most prolific 3-point shooting team, the Chicago Bulls. Accordingly, Boston also paces Chicago for the league lead in made triples, 18.8 to 16.6.

That said, Boston is surprisingly middle-of-the-pack when it comes to conversion rate on those looks from beyond the arc. Boston is making 36.7 percent of its 3-point takes, good for 15th in the league, and far below the 39.9 percent of the Cleveland Cavaliers — the NBA’s No. 1-most efficient 3-point shooting team, and also the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed, who at 23-4 are two games ahead of the 21-6 Celtics.

White has long been an elite volume 3-point shooter, while Pritchard’s arrival as a consistent contributor has really been cemented across the past two seasons.