The Boston Celtics are still the reigning NBA champions, but they were not looking like it on Monday night.

The Celtics gave up a big lead to the New York Knicks during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, and everyone is looking at what went wrong.

Keith Smith dug into the numbers and highlighted Boston’s biggest problems.

According to him, they were 0-for-0 versus very tight defense, 1-of-4 versus tight defense, 7-of-32 on open shots, and 7-of-24 on wide-open shots.

They were 14-for-56, or 25 percent, on open to wide-open shots, and usually the Celtics shoot 38 percent on those.

These numbers are not encouraging, so can they change in Game 2?

Celtics three-point shooting in Game 1 loss vs Knicks per NBA tracking data:

🏀0-for-0 vs very tight defense
🏀1-for-4 vs tight defense
🏀7-for-32 on open shots
🏀7-for-24 on wide-open shots

14-for-56 or 25% on open to wide-open shots.

In the regular season Boston shot 38% on…

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 6, 2025

The Celtics had a 20-point lead during the game, but the Knicks stuck with it and chipped away, eventually forcing overtime and then walking away with a huge road victory.

Their shooting was a problem all night long, even when they were far ahead.

The Celtics have been devoted to the three-point shot all season, and that was definitely true on Monday.

However, the problem was that their shots weren’t falling, and they still didn’t change their approach.

This allowed a path for the Knicks, and they took full advantage of it.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla is no slouch, and he is surely going to look at these numbers, adjust his plan, and try to fix what went wrong on Monday night.

Does that mean the Celtics will play a very different type of basketball in Game 2?

These stats have to improve, or else the Knicks will consistently have a way to win in this series.

It is time for the Celtics to once again prove why they are one of the most feared teams in the league.

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