House shoots at Celtic history

He's close to Ainge in 3-point accuracy

Don't ask Eddie House about making Celtics history right now. Just let him know where he stands once the regular season ends, so he's not distracted beyond the arc.

With seven games remaining, House is closing in on Danny Ainge's franchise mark for 3-point shooting percentage in a season. Ainge hit a franchise-best 44.3 percent (85 of 192) during the 1986-87 season. House is shooting 43.5 percent (134 of 308) through 74 contests.

"I'm not even paying attention," said House, who made 3 of 9 3-point attempts in a 103-84 win over Oklahoma City Sunday. "I'm just playing, man.

"Things like that will throw you off. If you start thinking about that, you might start pressing. You just play basketball and don't think. Just play. Until it was brought to my attention, I wouldn't pay attention to that."

Said Ainge, now the team's president of basketball operations, "I didn't even know I had the record. I heard Mike Gorman on the broadcast say that when I was in the locker room watching the game [against the Clippers March 23]. I didn't even know."

The respect between House and Ainge as long-ball shooters goes back some years.

House was a big NBA fan while growing up in the Bay area and followed Ainge's career. During his 14-year NBA career, Ainge shot 37.8 percent from 3-point range while playing for Boston, Sacramento, Portland, and Phoenix. Upon his retirement, he was one of three players in NBA history to make more than 1,000 career 3-pointers, along with Dale Ellis and Reggie Miller. Ainge finished his career sixth in playoff history in 3-pointers made (177).

"I remember how good he was as a shooter," said House. "I remember him with the Celtics. I remember him with Portland. I remember him with Phoenix. He always seemed to be on winning teams and doing his job on winning teams."

Ainge became a fan of House's quick catch-and-shoot skills when he was starring at Arizona State. House shot 36.6 percent from 3-point range for the Sun Devils from 1996-2000. During that time, Ainge saw lots of House while he was coaching for the Suns.

"He has no conscience," said Ainge. "He has good mechanics. Eddie is one of those I would hate to call 'born shooters' because he's worked hard on his shot. But I remember watching Eddie as a freshman at Arizona State just shoot shots and he was a very special shooter at that stage of his life. A really good shooter."

House said he realized he had a gift for shooting when he was in junior high, and he has put hard work into the craft. He has shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range for his career, he entered yesterday ninth in the NBA in 3-point percentage this season, and he made a career-high eight treys against Sacramento Jan. 28. House has made 653 3-pointers in his career, and he gets fired up in entertaining fashion once he gets hot.

"No one really taught me how to shoot," House said. "I just was able to shoot. When I was younger, I just worked at it. I noticed I had the ability I had and just kept on working on it."

Despite all that, House wasn't invited to this year's NBA All-Star 3-point competition, which was just down the street from Arizona State in Phoenix. Even so, he was a good sport and attended the contest.

"I was there to enjoy it, not to be bitter about anything," he said. "It wasn't in the cards."

While House is leading the Celtics in 3-point percentage, teammate Ray Allen is shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range, has nailed a team-best 184, and is first in NBA playoff history in 3-pointers per game (2.6). Allen, one of the NBA's most storied shooters, said the keys for House's 3-point shooting success are "great screens and our transition game."

"I'm just taking my time, making sure I take a good shot, a rhythm shot," House said. "I don't try to force anything. When you force shots, you tend to miss shots. It's like a snowball effect. You miss shots and then the next thing you keep on missing and missing.

"You take open shots that you regularly take in game situations or practice situations. Most of the times you knock them down."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers told House to slow down after he missed both 3-point attempts in the first half against the Thunder. House responded by nailing 3 of 7 in the second half.

"We tell Eddie, 'If you've got to rush it to the point where you are worried about getting blocked, you should pass it,' " said Rivers, who gave his team yesterday off. " 'And if you can just take your shot in rhythm and get it off, you should shoot it.' And that's basically what we use."

Said House, "I've always got confidence in my shot. When I'm not making it, you have to figure out that adjustment, and make the adjustment, and I feel like I made the proper adjustment."

The addition of guard Stephon Marbury has aided House, too. Rivers has been playing them together with Marbury at point guard while House plays shooting guard. Such an offensive set-up has actually allowed House to run more off screens for open 3-pointers.

"He told me a few games back that he likes the ball in the open court because that's when he's at his best," Marbury said. "If I get a rebound or somebody kicks it to me, I look immediately to pass it to him. He's going to make something happen. If he doesn't get a shot, he's going to definitely get somebody a look."

Said House, "I think I'm getting about the same looks the same way [with Marbury]. When I was running the [point guard], I was doing the same thing I do now. I try to find the open creases or come off a pick-and-roll or come off something like that or where we run a couple plays that we have in for myself."

And if House keeps nailing the treys, Ainge's newfound record could soon be an old one.

"He was a big part of our team when we won our championship last year," said Ainge. "He made big shots during the season. He's a great, great shooter."

Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com.