The Celtics lost the free throw attempt battle again, 20-15, in their 119-115 loss to the Timberwolves on Saturday. Aside from drawing even with Philadelphia in Cleveland, Boston’s opponents have shot more free throws than them in every game this season. The Celtics rank last in free throw attempt rate, and shoot nearly two free throws fewer per game (18.7) than the 29th-ranked Bucks (20.1).
Boston also shot poorly at the line on Saturday (9-16), putting them at a seven point deficit in points off free throws in a game where they lost by four after a late 12-0 run. The Celtics continued to ride Jaylen Brown’s challenging jump shots to an early lead in the loss, finding a pick-and-roll attack through Neemias Queta late that drew fouls, but the officiating drew responses from Joe Mazzulla, who veiled his in football terminology, and Brown after.
For Brown, who ranks 34th in free throw attempts per game despite a second-ranked usage, his comments followed multiple officiating complaints on and off the floor, and an insinuation that his comments have impacted how officials call his game. He recently said he received the message, and will remain quiet.
“I don’t understand,” Brown told reporters. “We’re last in free throw attempts, but even me personally, I’m one of the most aggressive downhill players in the league. Nobody is as aggressive as me and I don’t understand. Night-to-night, it’s the same thing. I don’t get it. Maybe someone can help me out with that one. Tonight I shot four free throws, and I’m aggressive the whole game. I’m watching around the league other guys get these same calls. It is what it is. I don’t understand.”
Fair officiating or not, the Celtics’ low free throw attempt rate became a constant across Mazzulla’s first four seasons as coach. They ranked 28th in attempts in 2023, 26th in the championship season and last in 2025. Since, they lost two of the four players who averaged at least two attempts per game between Kristaps Porziņģis and Jayson Tatum, who’s out with an injury. Brown’s attempts are down by 1.2 per game.
The Celtics, nonetheless, won that battle in recent years by never fouling. They committed the second-fewest in the league last year, and allowed only 17.7 free throw attempts per game, the fewest in the league and nearly two fewer per game than they attempted. That gave them a +1.5 net advantage in points off free throws in 2025. Now, they’re fouling more in an effort to force turnovers. They attempt 18.7 per game and allow 27.6 for a net -7.7 in free throw scoring.
It’s basically as if the Celtics begin every night trailing by eight points.
Other factors, statistically, play larger parts in the outcome of games. The four factors list shooting as 40%, turnovers as 25%, rebounding as 20% and free throws as 15%, so it’s no surprise the Celtics sacrificed the free throw battle to gain an edge in turnovers. Their edge in that differential diminished recently though, committing 11.4 per game themselves (1st), but only forcing 14.9 (T-16th). They began the season with the best differential.
“The correlation between the ability to turn people over and the fouls,” Mazzulla explained recently. “Teams that have been highest in turnover percentage have also been higher in fouls, because of the turnover probability. The risk of a foul is worth it if you can almost get a turnover out of it. So you’re gonna have more of those things.”
The Celtics could probably get away with their turnover disadvantage if they shot better as a team, but they continue to rank in the bottom half of the league in three-point efficiency (35.7% 3PT, T-18th). They’re no longer taking the most three-point attempts in the NBA, surpassed recently by Golden State and Cleveland, who they face on Sunday without Derrick White (calf) and Queta (ankle). A turn toward embracing mid-range shooting perhaps makes their scoring approach the most difficult in the NBA. They don’t run in transition, cut, post-up or shoot at the rim.
By some miracle, they entered Sunday ranked fifth in offensive efficiency.
Brown, who’s second in usage behind Luka Dončić, drove most of that, and that trend continued in Minnesota where he finished 17-for-32 with 41 points while White and Payton Pritchard combined to shoot 10-for-30. White reached the free throw line three times. Pritchard didn’t get there. Mazzulla, in the past, expressed that you can’t force an opponent to foul you, and while there’s no exact science to generating more, even your attempts at the basket don’t reflect a strong correlation with your free throw attempts, White has expressed how much seeing a free throw go down can help you during a slump.
“I like the floater,” White said earlier this month. “That’s usually what I go to. Obviously, a free throw would be amazing. There are other variables to get to that, but anytime you can see the ball go through the hoop, it makes the game a little easier.”
