What we can learn from this data
Boston is forcing Thompson into becoming a shot-maker off the dribble
As previously mentioned, the Celtics are doing a tremendous job at running Thompson off the three-point line and asking him to be a decision-maker from that position. His frequency of shots on three or more dribbles is far beyond anything we’ve seen this season, while his frequency of shots after 2-6 seconds of ball-handling has risen considerably since the start of the Conference Finals.
The results of those shots are even more damning – Thompson is shooting 33.3% from the floor on shots with three or more dribbles, while he’s shooting a woeful 23.1% on shots taken after 2-6 seconds of ball handling.
Boston is contesting a far greater percentage of Thompson’s field goal attempts
Over 60% of Thompson’s field goal attempts in the regular season were considered open or wide-open, a rate that’s maintained over 56% for each of the first three playoff series. Again, in credit to Boston’s league-leading defense, they’ve made an emphasis of contesting Thompson’s field goal attempts, preventing the open looks he often uses as a catalyst to find a rhythm.
The combination of open and wide-open attempts has dwindled to 48.5%, with shots considered tightly contested rising to a frequency of 42.4%. Thompson is shooting 43.5% on the open and wide-open attempts, but just 14.3% on those tightly contested shots.
Boston is forcing Thompson into more two’s than three’s
Thompson’s role is primarily as a spot-up shooter, therefore throughout the majority of his career and practically all of this season, he’s taken a slightly greater number of three-point field goal attempts than two-point field goal attempts.
In relation to the first point above, the Celtics are forcing Thompson off the three-point line and into more field goal attempts in the mid-range and paint area. The sharpshooter is taking slightly more two-point than three-point field goal attempts in this series, a trend you’d expect to reverse should his production increase.