BOSTON – As highlights played on the Jumbotron above them, Celtics teammates Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, staples of this chapter in team history, gathered at midcourt , reliving their stays at TD Garden, which culminated in Tuesday’s game. NBA championship ring ceremony.
“I’ve been JB’s teammate for seven years,” Tatum said. “I was 19 when I got drafted, and Al was in his 10th year; he’s now in his 18th year. The journey we’ve all been on together brought us to this point, and it was great to share that moment with those two. Guys, Soak it up, enjoy it and embrace it. That was great.”
“It was just settling in,” Brown added. “Me, JT and Al were together and I could feel he. When we won, I was shocked, but today all our emotions settled. It was like, ‘We did it.’ We did something spectacular. “Regardless of what everyone has to say, my name, along with my teammates, will be etched in the history of the Celtics, which is one of the greatest franchises not only in basketball but also in sports.”
In front of them were Celtics legends Bob Cousy, Cedric Maxwell, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen: more chapters in Celtics history. Behind them was a league-record 18th championship banner ready to be hoisted to the rafters. And once he was, Tatum grabbed a microphone to address the Garden crowd.
“To the best fans in the world,” he said, “let’s do it again.”
With that, the New York Knicks were to play a basketball game against the new jeweled champions. If the intention was to ruin Boston’s evening, the Knicks failed miserably. The Celtics took a 20-point lead in the first quarter and tied an NBA record, making 29 three-pointers en route to a 132-109 victory.
It was beautiful basketball by Boston. They became the fourth team in NBA history to record at least 30 assists, 20 three-pointers and five turnovers or lessall while posting shot splits of 51/48/88.
As for the Knicks, who have the Eastern Conference’s second-best title odds, newcomers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges combined for 28 points on 22 shots, many of which came after the outcome was determined. . At times they seemed lost, as if they still didn’t know how to complement Jalen Brunson.
“That’s the easy way out,” Brunson said of the excuses, “but we still got our butts kicked.”
Bridges did little to calm concerns about his new jump shot, missing his first five shots of the game. His first success came from the corner in the first minutes of the second half, when the Knicks trailed by 26.
“We don’t care about all the background noise about Mikal and his shot,” Knicks teammate Josh Hart said. “We don’t care. He works hard every day. He’s going to be good. The talk about it is stupid. There’s stupidity in it because at the end of the day he’s been a 40% 3-point shooter. “
The good thing is that Bridges made seven of his last eight shots. The positive side ended there. Time will tell if the Knicks can close the gap on Boston. And it’s good that they have time; there is a long way to go.
New York’s defense acted like it wasn’t aware that the Celtics led the league in 3-point attempts last season. They didn’t even need to hunt them; every look was good. The biggest benefactor was Tatum, who got into a rhythm in the pick-and-roll, making 14 of his 18 shots (8 of 11 from 3) for 37 points.
So much for the concern over Tatum’s wayward shot. He made his MVP case in Game 1.
“The shot felt good,” Tatum said. “Offensively, I felt like things picked up where we left off last season. We brought almost everyone back. We played to our strengths. We know what we’re trying to do. We know where we’re trying to attack. We know what we’re trying to do. “We know where we’re trying to attack. We know what sets and actions to take. We work on it all the time.”
Brown and Derrick White added 23 and 24 points, respectively. Horford, Jrue Holiday and Sam Hauser all reached double figures. Yes, it seemed like the reigning champions picked up where they left off. They moved the ball, spaced the floor and executed at a level their main competitors couldn’t match.
“Three or four games a year where one team throws the ball at an absurd rate,” Hart added. “Give them credit: incredible energy, ring night, they came out and threw the ball in a way we’d only seen once before.”
The rest of the league must maintain that this was an anomaly. Because to think the Celtics are really that good this early (to think they could replicate this throughout the season) is to accept an inevitable repetition.
For Boston, however, Tuesday felt as if something had been passed down from dynasties past. There is something different about this team now that they have won. They know who they are: champions.
“Having the legendary Celtics in the building (Bob Cousy, KG, Paul, Cedric Maxwell, all the guys that won) it’s almost like they’re passing the torch,” Brown said. “I was fighting them at the beginning of the game. It was amazing. This is what we set out to do. My rookie year, when I got drafted, this is what I said I would do: I would go to war for this city. And it’s fantastic see how that banner is raised.”
The work to put another on the side began again with a beating of their Atlantic Division rival. Given a second chance to reconsider his pregame speech, Tatum doubled down. “I know we’re not supposed to talk about a repeat, but the fans were so excited that I said, ‘Fuck it, let’s do it again.'”