It only took 5 minutes for Celtics to help Amen Thompson solve biggest problem

Within the first five minutes Amen Thompson played against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, he hit a three. It was his first triple of the season after starting the year 0-for-10. Boston helped all the way off him in the corner, sending Josh Minott crashing into the paint in hopes of stopping a drive. Thompson buried the triple.

The Celtics have employed a much more chaotic style of defense this season, sending their guys scrambling around the floor in hopes of making their opponent uncomfortable. That’s what they tried to do, helping off of the ice-cold Thompson. But he made them pay. And in turn, they may have helped him break out of a slump.

That would be huge for Houston.

How did Celtics help Amen Thompson?

Thompson’s impact on the game is undeniable. He’s one of the best defenders in the NBA, a freak athlete, and a maestro with the ball in his hands. But the three-point shot hasn’t been there for him.

Obviously, starting the year 0-of-10 from beyond the arc is a pretty rough statistic, and even during his rookie and sophomore seasons, Thompson struggled to knock down shots from long range.

His rookie year, Thompson shot just 8-of-58 (13.8%) from distance, and last season, his second in the NBA, he went 25-of-91 (27.5%) on three-point attempts.

Based on the way Thompson shot throughout the Rockets’ first four games of the 2025-26 campaign, it looked like he was off to another rough season from beyond the arc. And he still might be. But seeing one go down against the Celtics was, if nothing else, a good start.

With how frenetic the Celtics’ defense is playing this season, they are inevitably going to leave some guys open from beyond the three-point line. And Joe Mazzulla is a smart coach.

He knows which guys he wants to give more space to, and when it comes to three-point shooting, he’s fine letting him sit in space from long range.

But in the first quarter, just a few minutes into the game, that space worked out well for Thompson. He finally saw a three-point shot go down, and perhaps that will get him going for the remainder of the year.

If nothing else, it shows that Thompson is still capable of knocking down shots from three, not that he was going to stop trying.

Boston’s defense just helped Thompson take the lid off the basket.