Two teams in NBA history had ever made 29 three-pointers in a game before this week. Friday night, the Boston Celtics became the second team in five nights to tie the single-game record for threes.
Sam Hauser led the way with eight threes, and Payton Pritchard sank five of his own in the Celtics’ 144-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Boston had a chance to break the record, tied by the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, but they dribbled out the clock at the buzzer.
Boston Celtics are lighting it up from deep
Though they’re not putting up shots at the same rate as last season, when they led the NBA with 48.2 attempts per game, the Celtics are still third in the NBA in total three-pointers. Friday, they shot 29-for-59, in a game they led by 19 points after one quarter and by 31 at halftime, shooting 17-for-30 before the break.
Four different Celtics had three triples in the first half. The most significant effort may have come from deadline pickup Nikola Vucevic, who was shooting 31.3 percent from distance before Friday but made all three of his first-half attempts (he finished 3-of-5). The pace slowed down as the starters rested with a big lead, but Hauser shot 5-of-7 in the second half.