Gerald Green Becoming Key Shooting Asset Off Of Bench

With Avery Bradley out with an achilles injury, Gerald Green piped in 15 points in the Celtics’ 117-108 win over New Orleans on Saturday.

For a team that prides itself on reliance on the three-point shot, the Boston Celtics would be incomplete without the weapon of having a microwave oven on their bench that can heat up instantly upon entering a ballgame. Small forward Gerald Green has fulfilled that role for the group, contributing to the Celtics compiling a franchise-record fourth straight outing with at least 17 made three-pointers in their 117-108 defeat of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.

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Receiving 16 minutes of action with the absence of starting shooting guard Avery Bradley due to a nagging achilles ailment, Green caught fire immediately. He knocked down two of his three attempts from long range while hitting all seven of his free throw attempts en route to a 15-point performance, his second recording of double digit points in the team’s last six games. On Friday night in a narrow victory over the 76ers, Green only garnered four minutes of playing time, however, he completed his duty by knocking down a three-pointer on his lone shot attempt.

The nine-year veteran also played a crucial role in invigorating the performance of the reserve unit by hitting two of his three treys in a Christmas Day win over the Knicks and going 3-5 from deep and 7-10 from the field en route to a 19-point outburst in a triumph over theGrizzlies on December 27. Green also inched the Celtics close to nearly knocking off the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on December 29, converting on two of his four threes in the contest.

After knocking down just 32.3 percent of his three-point attempts in 2015-16 as a member of the Heat, Green had his sights fixated on returning his three-point percentage to the 40 percent range that he recorded in 2013-14 while with the Suns after inking a one-year, $1.4 million deal to return to the place in which his career kicked off. The 30-year-old has achieved his objective while shattering the expectations of Boston supporters each time he sets foot on the court. Green is shooting the three-pointer at an exact 40 percent clip on the season, and his true shooting percentage of 53.4 percent is his best since 2013-14.

The manner in which Green composes himself has been ideal for a Celtics team that has witnessed its three-point percentage climb from a horrific 33.5 percent in 2015-16 to 36.9 percent this year, the seventh-best mark in the NBA. He has recognized his role as a spot-up shooter and is consistently prepared to let the ball fly from deep without needing multiple attempts to adapt to the flow of a ballgame. With over 50 percent of his shot attempts coming from deep, Green realizes that his value does not come from being an isolation scorer, rather it comes from unleashing a fury from beyond the three-point line set up by penetration from one of Boston’s backcourt options. He has quelled his thirst for taking off-balance shots off of the dribble, and instead allowed for others to create for him with 80 percent of his made shots coming off of assists.

Green has expanded his range tremendously, as well. After hitting just 28.2 of his three-points attempts from 25-29 feet away from the basket a season ago, Green is converting at a substantial 43.5 percent mark from that range in 2016-17. On above the break threes, Green is hitting at a 41.2 percent rate, well above his porous 31.3 percent conversion rate on such attempts last year.

Additionally, Green has also been using the improvements in his three-point marksmanship to assists him in getting to the rim. Per 36 minutes, Green is averaging 3.1 free throw attempts as opposed to his 2.1 attempts in the same time frame last season, and has improved his free throw percentage from 78.3 percent to an astounding 88.2 percent. Knocking down the three-point shot consistently has allowed Green to revamp his ability to give a pump-fake to force his defender to lose position. In turn, this has created an increased amount of opportunities to pass by the first line of defense and into the lane, granting him the chance to create shots for his teammates. His assist percentage has skyrocketed from a measly 5.6 percent to a career-high 15.3 percent, and his 4.8 assists per 100 possessions far outweigh 2015-16’s average of 1.8.