The Boston Celtics lifted its championship banner pregame, then tied an NBA record by making 29 three-pointers Tuesday night en route to a 132-109 victory over the visiting New York Knicks in the opening game of the NBA season.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum connected on eight of 11 shots from behind the three-point arc and scored a game-high 37 points. He also had 10 assists. Seven Celtics made at least one three-pointer in the victory.
The Celtics tied the trey record set by the Milwaukee Bucks, who made 29 three-pointers against the Miami Heat in December 2020.
Boston’s 29th three-point came from Al Horford and gave the host a 126-93 lead with 8:54 to play. The Celtics missed its last 13 three-point attempts.
The Celtics’ previous franchise record for made three-pointers in a game was 27, which came against the Knicks in November 2022. Boston shot 50.5 per cent from the floor on Tuesday and 47.5 per cent from three-point territory (29 of 61).
Five other Celtics joined Tatum in double figures. Derrick White tossed in 24, Jaylen Brown had 23, Jrue Holiday scored 18, Horford finished with 11 and Sam Hauser added 10. White made six three-pointers, and Brown had five. Brown and Xavier Tillman led Boston with seven rebounds apiece.
Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride each scored 22 points for New York. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and seven rebounds in his debut for the Knicks, and Mikal Bridges added 16 points. Josh Hart put up 12 points, and Cameron Payne had 11.
Also read | LeBron and Bronny James make history as NBA’s first father-son duo to play together
The Knicks shot 55.1 per cent from the field in the loss, 36.7 per cent from long range (11 of 30).
The Celtics led 43-24 after one quarter, 74-55 at halftime and 113-87 entering the fourth.
Boston made 10 of its 17 three-point attempts in the opening quarter and tied a franchise record for three-pointers in a half by connecting on 17 shots (on 32 attempts) from behind the arc in the first two quarters. The Knicks trailed by 19 at halftime despite shooting 57.9 per cent from the field.
The Celtics’ largest lead in the game was 35 points. The Knicks’ lone lead came at 6-5 in the opening minutes.
