Knicks benefit from Celtics historically bad 3-point shooting

BOSTON — The Knicks were on the right side of history Monday night — the opponent for the team that missed the most 3-point attempts in an NBA playoff game.The Celtics’ 45 errant triples was the most ever in a postseason contest, a key factor in the Knicks’ stunning 108-105 Game 1 overtime victory of this Eastern Conference semifinal series.The Celtics made only 15-of-60, and blew a 20-point, third-quarter lead.They were 3-of-18 in the fourth and overtime.

Some of them were wide-open looks that didn’t fall, and some were rushed and forced tries that didn’t come close.“We gotta be better at that,” Jalen Brunson said.“Not let them shoot it as much and not let them get open shots up.”The Celtics led by 16 points at halftime, in part because they were getting to the free-throw line.

They made 16-of-20 at the charity stripe in the first 24 minutes, but attempted only six the rest of the way.In fact, Boston was 12-of-15 inside the arc in the second quarter, but had just one field goal other than a 3-pointer in the third quarter.“I don’t think you want to force them into 3s.

We don’t want them to shoot more 3s,” Josh Hart said.“They got great shooters, man.

We were just trying to make it tough for them, play physical, do those kinds of things.You never want a team like that to shoot more 3s.

We tried to stop them and they still got up 60.”The Celtics led the NBA during the regular season in 3-pointers attempted at 48.2.They only got up 31.2 during their first-round series victory over the Magic.Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider texts about the series.“Some of them felt good,” Celtics wing Jaylen Brown said.

“Some of them felt like we maybe forced it to shoot.”The Knicks were outrebounded in four of six games by the Pistons, and those issues continued against the Celtics.They were minus-10 on the glass, and Boston had 19 offensive rebounds that l...