Secret to Marcus Smart's 3-point improvements? Post-practice competition

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BOSTON — When practice ends for the Boston Celtics, players typically scatter for various routines. Al Horford can often be found at one end of the gym working with a coach on post moves. Gordon Hayward and Semi Ojeleye like to pair up for shooting drills. But the biggest — and loudest — contingent tends to be the pack of shooters that assemble for 3-point work.

That group, typically helmed by Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, and Jaylen Brown, will congregate in the corner of one of Boston’s four practice courts for some competitive shooting. It’s a simple format: Shoot until you miss from five different spots with five makes needed to advance to the next spot.


It’s probably not a surprise that Irving often thrives in these sessions but everyone in the group has had their moment. There’s plenty of playful trash talk as the players navigate the arc and, by the final station, guys are often screaming at the leader hoping to generate a miss that prolongs the contest.

And when that fails, the whole group might just pick up and move to another court for a whole new game.

These shootouts aren’t just for fun. Those involved believe the competition of them may actually be helping them shoot better in game situations and it’s noteworthy that at least three of the usual participants — Irving, Smart, and Rozier — are all shooting above their career 3-point averages this season.

Some more than others.

Smart, who entered the season as a career 29.3 percent shooter beyond the arc, is up to 34.7 percent for the year. Maybe it’s fleeting and Smart has routinely had stretches of his career where he’s shot the 3 well only to crash back to Earth. But both Smart and his teammates credit the 3-point contests with helping him become more consistent this season.

“More repetition. More confidence,” Smart told NBC Sports Boston, explaining the uptick in 3-point consistency this season while noting he made no change to his form.

"We’re getting shots up, game shots, where every shot counts because you’re trying to win and, if you miss one, one guy could get hot and take over. So you gotta really focus. And you’ve got guys bonding together, so that’s always a good thing, too.”

Smart connected on 4-of-8 3-pointers while scoring 12 points in Boston’s 116-95 triumph over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night at TD Garden. He could be seen shushing the Brooklyn bench after one of his early makes and kept motioning towards the Nets' sideline throughout the night.

“So, the first one, the bench was telling me they’ll live with [Smart shooting 3s] and wanted me to keep shooting,” said Smart. "So I made sure they lived with it.”

Time will tell if his percentages are sustainable but Smart has clearly made an effort to be a more efficient 3-point shooter this season. After taking a career-high 4.6 3-pointers per game last season, Smart has whittled that number down 3.8 this year.

Celtics fans used to find themselves screaming at their televisions for Smart to not shoot 3s, but he seems to have found a better balance this season, recognizing when to shoot and when to facilitate.

His post-practice competitors believe they deserve some credit for his improvements as well.

"You know we’re joking around but, in the inside, all of us are trying to win,” said Irving. "We’re all joking around and having fun but it’s always good to shoot extra and feel good about it and know that your teammates are there with you and we’re seeing your shots go in and it gives us confidence in you, confidence in us, and it’s just great to build that camaraderie in competition in practice. 

"Then it translates to the game. [Smart] came out and you saw he [nearly] won a 3-point contest [Sunday] and he’s feeling good and shooting it and feeling comfortable. I won’t say it’s going to be every game but, when he’s open, we want him shooting shots. When he’s in rhythm, shoot shots. It’s simple. It is a credit to his hard work as well.”

Smart lagged behind his competition for much of the first shooting contest on Sunday. But Smart hit 12 straight 3-pointers at one point, making a spirited late surge before Terry Rozier took the game.

The crew then picked up and shuffled to a neighboring court where Irving dominated the session. Irving is shooting 40.7 percent beyond the 3-point arc this season. He makes perimeter shooting look easy sometimes in these contests but it’s also obvious that he loves the competition.

"That was one of the things that I really loved while I was in Cleveland, with Mike Miller and James Jones. Shooting with those guys every day, I was getting my ass kicked,” said Irving. "Those guys are professional shooters, shooting every day. Their shots are the same every time. They’ve been shooting for more years than I have and have probably gotten more shots up than I have. 

"The best way to get that is just to stay consistent, practice, and go against one another and make it competitive.”

And the 2018-19 Celtics might just be proof that that’s true.

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