Celtics stats snapshot: Daniel Theis, absolute sniper?
It wasn’t exactly the sort of start you wanted to see from Boston Celtics veteran big man Daniel Theis in terms of shooting.
The German’s center seemed to be having the same sort of trouble from beyond the arc as he did in the Disney restart bubble, losing his 3-point touch at the worst possible moment and eliminating much of the spacing value he had previously added to the team in the 2018-19 season, which saw him connect on 38.8% of his shots from deep, albeit at a low volume of one attempt per game. When he upped those attempts to 1.5 per game last season, the drop-off was noticeable at a 33.3% success rate.
Daniel Theis has made incredible progress in his 3-point efficiency lately.
In his first 9 games, he shot 20% (4-of-20) – the worst mark on the team over that span.
In his last 14 games, he has shot 65.5% (19-of-29) – the best mark on the team (by far) over that span.
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) February 11, 2021
Hardly the sort of threat one needs to pivot to defensively, it allowed Boston's foes to game-plan Theis out of the picture to the team's detriment. His 3 looked to be going the same this season despite -- or perhaps because of -- the Salzgitter native upping his attempts even further, now at 2.1 per game, shooting a team-worst 20% from deep in Boston's first nine games according to team reporter Taylor Snow. Then, something clicked. https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1359371025415368709?s=20
In the subsequent 14 games, Theis has shot 65.5% from deep to bring his season average to 46.9%, the team's best on a club with six players shooting over 40% from 3. According to Synergy Sports, the German is now scoring 1.465 points per possession when he lets it fly from deep, good enough for the league's 97th percentile among 3-point shooters. And while he doesn't yet meet the minimum requirements to be listed in Basketball Reference's leaderboard figures with 49 attempts and 23 makes, he would be the eighth-best 3-point marksmen in the NBA is he did. https://twitter.com/Tom_NBA/status/1359359560411136002?s=20
It's reasonable to believe Theis has turned a corner offensively given his recent career-high five treys unleashed in an ultimately losing effort against the Utah Jazz earlier in the week, which could help take a load off the backs of a banged up Boston wing in a big way. It's also possible water finds its level if the Celtic center's past numbers are more indicative of future success overall -- but at any rate it is certainly a positive development worth keeping tabs on. This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [jwplayer fQeM9NHA] [lawrence-related id=46519,46509,46490,46482] [listicle id=46511]
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