Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has often been criticized by the local media for his teams taking “too many” threes. Even with Mazzulla snagging an NBA ring in his second season, the criticism over “Mazzulla Ball” — a.k.a. an emphasis on volume three-point shooting — has continued. Well, if imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, Mazzulla should feel good about his brand of basketball, because the rest of the NBA is adopting it. In 2023-24, Mazzulla’s Celtics were the only team in the NBA hoisting more than 40 threes on a nightly basis, per Forbes’ Evan Sidery. Last season, that figure rose to four. This season, it’s up to 11 (though we are only a few games in). Eleven teams are attempting 40+ threes per game this season.Last year, only four teams put up 40+ three-pointers per game.In 2023-24, the Celtics were the only team over 40+ on a nightly basis.The NBA’s three-point revolution continues to rapidly increase. pic.twitter.com/iPHyG7F2Qv— Evan Sidery (@esidery) October 29, 2025 Mazzulla Ball is becoming popularized around the rest of the league. That begs the question, does Mazzulla really deserve full credit for “introducing” volume three-point shooting at the NBA level? Story continues below advertisement Yes and no. The Golden State Warriors’ Splash Brothers era — headlined by Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and later joined by Kevin Durant — definitely heightened the value of three-point shooting in not only the NBA, but the entire basketball world and history of the sport. Curry, in particular, deserves credit for playing Mazzulla Ball way before Mazzulla was coaching in the NBA. But where Mazzulla deserves credit as a trail blazer is the way in which he’s made volume threes an entire team strategy, rather than just the magical efforts of a couple of players on a team. Story continues below advertisement This isn’t to claim that people didn’t understand the growing importance of the three-point shot before Mazzulla took the reins in Boston. That would be a gross inaccuracy, as, once again, Curry is to credit for changing the way everyone thinks about the value of distance shooting, and thus, the game of basketball. It’s Curry who began convincing basketball minds at the highest level that three-point shooting should become more of a priority when it comes to efficient offense. But no NBA coach embraced that philosophy more fearlessly, and with more commitment in the face of criticism, than Mazzulla. Story continues below advertisement There are still times when Celtics fans wish Mazzulla Ball could take a rest for a quarter or two, or even in some matchups where it seems like hugging the philosophy too tightly prevents Boston from exploiting more nuanced mismatches against a certain opponent. Mazzulla hasn’t “cracked the code” of NBA basketball, but he’s definitely a trend-setter, as are the Celtics players and staff that have bought in.