How the Celtics' 3-point philosophy has failed them against the Knicks

How it (usually) works: The Celtics' offensive philosophy centers on basic math: Three is more than two. Boston broke the NBA record this year for the most threes made in a season.

• The team is as allergic to taking long two-point shots as they are fixated on hunting threes. The efficiency-driven strategy helped them win last year's title.

Friction point: The Celts also broke a record in Game 1 of this series — a bad one. They missed 45 threes, the most any team has ever missed in a playoff game.

• They missed fewer in Game 2, but at the same rate: They made 10 of 40, matching the first game's 25% (15 of 60 made).

Threat level: Just eight teams in NBA history have come back from a 0-2 deficit in a conference semifinals series, per Land of Basketball.

• In all playoff series that began 2-0, the team leading has won about 93% of the time.

The bottom line: The Celtics have to decide whether to stick with the style that brought them here, betting the shots will start to fall, or pivot to a new strategy with their playoff lives on the line.

What's next: Having squandered home-court advantage, the Celtics head to the league's most Boston-hostile venue — New York's Madison Square Garden.

• Game 3 is 3:30pm Saturday on ABC.