It’s awards season at Celtics.com. We’re handing out seven awards over the next few weeks as we roll through this year’s Celtics.com Awards Series. We may not have trophies or acceptance speeches, but we do have some top-flight Celtics performances to outline.
Sharpshooter - Avery Bradley
There is no question who deserves to be named this year’s Sharpshooter for the Boston Celtics. That would be Avery Bradley, who started 58 games at shooting guard and was undoubtedly Boston’s top perimeter threat.
Bradley was the only perimeter player on the Celtics roster who struck fear into opponents when they happened to leave him open. Why? Because he was one of the top 3-point shooters in the NBA.
Avery Bradley's 3-point percentage of 39.5 percent ranked 24th in the NBA during the 2013-14 season.
NBAE/Getty Images
The 6-foot-2 shooting guard led the Celtics in 3-point shooting by hitting a stellar 39.5 percent of his attempts. That number ranked 24th in the entire league – ahead of lethal shooters such as Kevin Durant, Ray Allen, Kevin Love and many more.
Bradley was a lights-out shooter from the wings this season. He shot 47.4 percent from the left wing and 43.8 percent from the right wing. Those are elite percentages, no matter who we’re discussing.
Bradley’s 3-point shooting was most efficient on the wings, but he did the majority of his damage from the corners. He hit 24 3s from the right corner and 22 from the left corner, compared to 33 total 3s made above the break on the season.
Nailing 3-pointers wasn’t the only thing the fourth-year guard gave to the Celtics. Bradley was also a very good shooter from the deep midrange (16-24 feet).
Bradley finished the season having made more than 40 percent of his attempts from four of the five midrange areas. He shot a sweltering 48.9 percent from straight away, and also hit 45.8 percent of his midrange shots from the right wing. Both of those percentages fall above the league average.
Some might consider Bradley’s season as underwhelming when they look at his overall shooting percentage of 43.8 percent. However, that number doesn’t tell the whole story. Had it not been for Bradley’s heavy struggles from 8-16 feet, where he shot just 27.4 percent, he may have challenged his career-best field goal percentage of 49.8 percent.
Speaking of which, 2013-14 was a glimpse back to that career year Bradley had back in 2011-12. That’s the season he supplanted Allen as a starter for the Celtics and was a sniper from the perimeter. That magic disappeared in 2012-13 thanks to offseason double-shoulder surgery, but it has now returned.
Bradley put together a stellar shooting season from the perimeter, one that no other Celtic could challenge. That’s why he is the recipient of this year’s Sharpshooter award.