Chris Forsberg, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Time for Olynyk to take his shots

BOSTON -- Early in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, with the Boston Celtics in desperate need of an offensive spark, second-year big man Kelly Olynyk received the ball beyond the 3-point arc with a fair amount of space between him and his defender. And he hesitated.

So long, in fact, that by the time Olynyk finally elected to pump fake, Joel Freeland had parked himself in front of Olynyk with a hand in his face and didn't even consider biting. Olynyk tried to drive, met resistance from Freeland in the paint and settled for an off-balance, one-footed fadeaway from the blocks that missed badly.

It was Olynyk's third and final shot attempt of the night. He missed all three and finished scoreless for the second time in four games.

Let's start with the positive: Going up against a tough opposing front line and forced to help against some very talented guards, Olynyk played some inspired defense. He was not without his missteps, but from this view it was one of his more encouraging defensive efforts of the season.

What Sunday's loss hammered home is that Olynyk is still a bit too shy at times with his offensive game, and it's on both him and the Celtics to figure out ways to make sure he's more involved.

The NBA's player-tracking data detail how Olynyk touched the ball 50 times on Sunday night, the third-highest total on the team behind only Rajon Rondo (94) and Jared Sullinger (64). Not only did that lead to only three shot attempts, but, despite being credited with 42 total passes (most on the team behind Rondo), Olynyk registered just one assist and was not credited with any secondary assists.

Boston endured its worst offensive performance of the season and Olynyk was hardly the only Celtic to struggle offensively. But the early portion of the 2014-15 season has only confirmed how much of a weapon Olynyk can be at that end of the court. His ability to stretch the floor and shoot from beyond the 3-point arc is a major reason coach Brad Stevens named him the team's starting center despite not having the typical center build.

Olynyk quietly ranked 10th in the NBA in field goal percentage (55 percent) and 14th in 3-point percentage (45.2) entering Monday's action. He's averaging 11.8 points over 26.4 minutes per game, while also grabbing 6.1 rebounds per contest.

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