It was a night of celebration for the Boston Celtics.
Ahead of the opening game of the new 2024-25 NBA season at home to the New York Knicks, the Celtics received their championship rings for winning the title last season and raised banner No. 18 into the rafters at TD Garden.
They then proceeded to rout the Knicks 132-109 and were ahead by as many as 35 points in the fourth quarter, led by a huge opening night from Jason Tatum.
The 26-year-old star finished with a game-high 37 points on an absurdly efficient 14-of-18 shooting, including 8-of-11 from three-point range, to go with 10 assists, four rebounds, a steal and a block.
Derrick White had 24 points and Jaylen Brown, last season’s Finals MVP, added another 23.
The Celtics tied the NBA record for 29 three-pointers made in a game early in the fourth quarter, but – then in a hilarious moment – proceeded to miss their final 13 attempts, much to the amusement of the crowd.
“It was almost like we got jinxed or something,” Brown said, per ESPN. “It was like when we were just playing, having fun, playing our style of basketball, everything was going in. And then once the crowd got into it and we started hunting them, we couldn’t even hit the broad side of the barn.
“Everything was off. We got a bunch of great looks, and it was like a lid on the basket. So that just shows, like, we’re not a team that’s hunting threes.
“We play the game and we do what we’re supposed to do, but I think towards the end, it was tough because we weren’t playing the way we had normally played. But we still had a bunch of great looks.”
White joked that he blamed himself for the Celtics missing their final 13 attempts after he asked what the record was during the game.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
New York’s new tandem of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a big offseason trade for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, failed the click into gear against Boston’s stifling defense.
Towns scored just 12 points and played only 23 minutes in the defeat.
Brunson had a joint team-high 22 points along with Miles McBride, who shot 80% off the bench in a rare highlight for the Knicks.
New York next welcomes the Indiana Pacers, while Boston travels to the Washington Wizards.