The Boston Celtics rank 29th out of 30 NBA teams in projected finishing this season. Who can help them get more points in the paint?

In Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics shot 7-for-39 from three-point range and managed just 79 points in one final loss to LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving both rehabbing from surgeries and thus out of the line up, it was not Boston’s ill-timed three-point shooting slump, but it’s inability to challenge defenses and finish in the paint that ultimately doomed the Celtics. Boston had ample opportunity to put Cleveland away, ahead 3-2 in the series before dropping the final two games.

Over the course of the season, Boston finished second in the league in three-point percentage at 37.7, but only attempted the 10th-most three-pointers. Why didn’t they shoot more threes? Because defenses knew they could closeout hard and pressure up shooters without worrying too much about the opponent getting all the way to the rim for a layup.

When the Celtics weren’t making their three-balls, and Al Horford or Jayson Tatum couldn’t exploit mismatches, they would struggle to find other ways to score. Of course any team that shoots more three-pointers is going to have bigger swings, both good and bad, the Celtics often lacked a second option when the threes weren’t dropping.

A great team finds a way to get an easy layup or get to the line when the shots aren’t falling, but Boston was in the bottom half of the league in free throws made per game. Only two teams, Dallas and Houston, scored a lower percentage of their points in the paint than Boston.

Not only did the Celtics struggle to get shots off in the paint, they also shot just 57.2 percent on shots inside of five-feet, second worst in the NBA behind only the Portland Trail Blazers.

Weighted based on projected minutes in 2018-2019, the Boston Celtics rank as 29th out of 30 teams in BBall Index’s new player grades. Only Chicago ranks lower.

Of course, according to BBall Index player grades, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are two of the better finishers at their respective positions, and their return to the lineup could also have trickle down effects on the quality of shot every player gets. The Celtics also hope another another summer off-season’ing will help the younger players improve their finishing skills.

Though Jayson Tatum ranked in the top ten in three-point shooting percentage as a rookie, he graded out as a ‘C’ finisher overall, ‘C-‘ among wings who played at least 1,000 minutes. Back up guard Terry Rozier shot 38 percent from deep, but graded out as a ‘D’ finisher, ‘D’ among guards .

Marcus Smart has been such a bad shooter throughout his career that he almost seems like a lost cause, but he graded out as a ‘D+’ finisher among guards who played 1,000 minutes last season. Jaylen Brown was the Celtics best finisher among the young guys, shooting 63 percent at the rim and grading out as a ‘C’ finisher among wings with at least 1,000 minutes played.

Too often last season, Tatum lost the ball ball on his way to the hoop, flailing his arms, unable to maintain possession through the physical bumps of NBA defense.

Brown and Rozier, meanwhile, are physical marvels, but are still learning better body control and often careen into the paint and force a more difficult layup attempt than necessary.

On the above play, Celtics center Daniel Theis does a great job of slyly sealing off Clippers center Montrezl Harrell so Rozier can get an easy layup after he blows by Lou Williams. Instead, Rozier jump stops right back into Harrell, and misses a very difficult shot.

If Rozier, Brown, and Tatum can make incremental improvements with their scoring touch in the paint, the Boston Celtics will force you to pick your poison on defense. In last season’s playoffs, partially because Irving and Hayward were sitting out, Celtics playoff opponents pressed up hard on Boston’s shooters and dared them to finish in the paint.

Oftentimes, the Celtics ended up kicking out to another teammate around the three-point arc, rather than challenge a defender at the rime. Other times, Boston’s best attempts at the basket were sent back like a freshman who just got called up for his first varsity game.

If Tatum learns to use his body to get a better angle on a drive like this, or to finish on the other side of the hoop to protect from the shot blocker, he will force defenses to sink in on his drives to the hoop more and open up his almost non-existent playmaking.

With Irving, Hayward, and Horford, Boston is probably talented enough to come out of the East without major improvements from their youngsters; but if the Celtics want to have any chance in a potential NBA Finals series with Golden State, they will have to make minor improvements on major details.