Jaylen Brown's crucial adjustment will put pressure on Heat in Game 4

In the first two rounds of the postseason, the Celtics made 3-point shooting a significant part of their plan of attack offensively and that was for good reason. The Sixers had plenty of rim protection lurking in Joel Embiid, while the Raptors defensive system was predicated on taking away shots at the rim (which opened up plenty of looks from 3-point range for Boston).

The Celtics ended up attempting 36.1 3s per game in those first two series, but the high volume and open looks didn’t always translate well to results. The Celtics ranked 13th among playoff teams in 3-point shooting percentage (34.1 percent) and it wasn’t just a few outliers either. In 14 playoff games this postseason, the Celtics have shot ‘above-average’ from 3-point range in just four of those games (36 percent or better).

Brad Stevens is never one to turn down an open 3-point shot, but the Celtics simply haven’t been knocking down wide-open looks all postseason at an expected rate. They've hit just 36 percent of wide open 3s all postseason (no defender within 4-6 feet) and have shot merely average (35 percent) on open 3-point shots (defender within 4-6 feet).

With a reduced margin of error in this series against the Heat, the Celtics offense doubled down on an area they had seen some success already in Game 2 for Game 3: Attacking the paint relentlessly over 48 minutes. They did their best to pull Bam Adebayo out of the paint and used their athletic scoring weapons to attack the rim against the limited resistance Miami could offer.

The end result was 60 points in the paint in Game 3, the highest total of any game in the C’s postseason and fifth-highest total through any game all year for Boston. The Celtics improved to 8-0 in games this year when they crossed that 60 points in the paint threshold with the Game 3 win. Here's a quick look at the stars of that performance inside on an individual basis.

Game 3 Points in the Paint

Jaylen Brown: 18
Jayson Tatum: 14
Marcus Smart: 10
Kemba Walker: 8
Daniel Theis: 6

Points in the paint playoff average/G

Jayson Tatum: 9.1
Jaylen Brown: 8.4
Daniel Theis: 6.1
Kemba Walker: 5.4
Marcus Smart: 4.0

Points in the paint regular season/G

Jaylen Brown: 9.0
Jayson Tatum: 8.6
Gordon Hayward: 7.4
Daniel Theis: 5.9
Kemba Walker: 5.0
Marcus Smart: 3.4

The name to watch on that list is Brown heading into Game 4 tonight. He was 10-of-15 inside the arc in Game 3, his highest volume of 2-point FG attempts all postseason. Given his success at finishing (70 percent inside three feet) and the odds of him having weaker defenders on him in Miami’s starting five (Tatum and Walker are still drawing the most attention), Brown is the Celtic that is best positioned to make the Heat pay inside.

Brown did just that in Game 3 by not only attacking more but by limiting his offensive volatility by eliminating some 3-point shot attempts. He’s averaging 6.9 3-point attempts in the postseason but is shooting just 33.3 percent on those, a sharp dip from his season average (38.2 percent). That type of dip can be in the difference in a series between two evenly matched teams with a high-volume shooter.

With the Celtics needing consistent scoring firepower against the Heat, along with superior interior options to attack compared to Philadelphia or Toronto, Brown has adjusted his offensive mentality. He is taking just 3.3 3-point attempts per game against the Heat, roughly half of his season average. However, Brown is still 6-of-10 from deep, allowing his pickiness from the perimeter to produce better success, rather than settling for looks that the C's could get whenever they want.

Brown is not the only member of the Celtics thinking twice about putting up 3s in this series. Notice the team-wide shift in 3-point shooting as the series has continued along with the interior attacking:

Points in the paint

Game 1 against Heat: 26
Game 2 against Heat: 46
Game 3 against Heat: 60

3-point shooting vs. Miami

Game 1: 15/42
Game 2: 10/28
Game 3: 9/26

The volume of 3-point shots may increase again in Game 4, but that should only come from Boston if it’s due to an adjustment by the Heat to pack the paint to reduce Boston’s open looks at the rim. Erik Spoelstra may opt for that in Game 4 after seeing the C’s parade to the paint on Saturday night, but the Celtics will start seeing wide-open 3-point looks as opposed to semi-contested ones in that scenario, a tradeoff they will gladly take. They also have better personnel now to flourish while small with Gordon Hayward back in the fold — a luxury that was not available to them in the first two games of this series. Going small should help punish the Heat if Bam Adebayo starts ignoring some of Boston’s bigs on the perimeter to stay by the rim.

The Heat can change their defensive philosophy to counteract Boston’s athletic wings and shot creators (like Brown) but they do not have the horses to match up well and still maintain their firepower on offense. Andre Iguodala and Derrick Jones Jr. are strong defenders off the bench but offer next-to-nothing offensively. Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and Goran Dragic are not going to turn into good defenders midway through this series either.

The Celtics found a pressure point here for Miami with only one real guy (Adebayo) that scares the Celtics inside. At least one Celtic (usually Brown) is going to have a mismatch on him defensively at all times in this series and the best way to make the Heat pay for that is to stay on the attack.

Live by the three, die by the three is a common NBA adage, but the Celtics shouldn’t need to take that chance to win this series. With a reduced margin for error after falling behind 2-0, attacking inside is the higher percentage play to sustain a comeback in this series.