Philosophically, the two teams approach the 3 pt shot very differently. From this Sports on Earth article about the NBA preseason:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/99181564/2014-15-nba-preseason-recap"16. The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are heading in opposite directions.
By refuting the importance of three pointers, Byron Scott has declared war against common sense, math and reality. It's probable he loses, and in the meantime between now and the day Lakers management replaces him with a more reasonably-minded leader, Los Angeles will suffer. The team is averaging 8.4 three-point attempts per game, an unfathomably low figure that's obviously lowest in the league, and about half of what the 25th ranked Memphis Grizzlies are throwing up.
It's not as if the Lakers would make the playoffs either way -- and apart from Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Nick Young and Jeremy Lin, there aren't many three-point shooters on the roster anyway -- but that's besides the point. It's disturbing for a head coach in 2014 to approach offense the way Scott plans to. Remember when the Lakers fired Mike Brown after five games? Scott should.
Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away in Massachusetts, Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics are stuffing tasty sandwiches filled with logic and intelligence into their mouths. The Celtics are launching 29 threes per game (tied with Cleveland for second in the league, behind only the Dallas Mavericks), which is the exact same number the Houston Rockets led the NBA with during last year's preseason. Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Bradley, Smart and Marcus Thornton all have a very green light, and even mid-range maven Brandon Bass was seen hoisting a corner three on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets. What upgrades this information from juicy to important is the fact that Boston is also the seventh most accurate three-point shooting team in the league right now. It's unsustainable for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't make it any less hopeful in the big picture.
As with the Lakers, the Celtics aren't a very good team, with glaring problems throughout the roster. But coming off a year in which they were slightly below average in three-point attempts per game, the length they've gone to embrace the shot this preseason is impressive. Whether either coach's drastic attitude toward offense carries over into the regular season is unknown, but from what we've seen, these two proud franchises appear to be headed in two very different directions. "