Three Studs, Three Duds From Celtics’ Season-Opening Beatdown Of Knicks
BOSTON — The Celtics began their title defense with a bang.
Boston rode the momentum from raising a championship banner to the TD Garden rafters Tuesday night and put together a nearly flawless performance — the Celtics shot a blistering 29-for-61 from 3-point range to tie the NBA record for most triples in a game — in a 132-109 rout of the New York Knicks.
Here are three studs and three duds from a resounding season-opening win for the Celtics:
STUDS
Jayson Tatum
Any concerns about Tatum’s jump shot, which he reworked in the offseason after struggling with it during last season’s playoffs, were immediately thrown to the side. Tatum put on a shooting clinic as he led Boston’s 3-point barrage. The Knicks had no answer for Tatum as he poured in a game-high 37 points off a ridiculous 14-for-18 shooting from the field, including going 8-for-11 from beyond the arc. He also dished out 10 assists and grabbed four rebounds. The MVP train might get started early for Tatum because he certainly looked like one against the Knicks.
Derrick White
With all the attention on Tatum and Jaylen Brown, White reminded everyone he can play at a star level, too. White turned in a sensational showing, scoring 24 points while knocking down six triples. The 30-year-old guard stayed well-rounded, too, chipping in four assists and three rebounds.
Bob Cousy
Cousy pleaded with the Celtics to win an NBA title last season and he said he wanted to be part of the team’s banner-raising ceremony. The Celtics legend held true to his word. Cousy, even at 96 years old, was in attendance for the festivities and got an abundance of cheers. The fans’ adulation for Cousy felt like TD Garden hopped back into a time machine when the all-time point guard won six titles for the Celtics in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
DUDS
Mikal Bridges
Bridges was one of New York’s big-time acquisitions in the offseason alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. But the seventh-year forward turned in an eyesore of a performance in his Knicks debut. Bridges’ ugly new jump shot certainly didn’t help him as he missed the first five shots he took with four of those being from 3-point range. Bridges finished with 16 points and recorded a putrid minus-33 in the loss.
Knicks Defense
The Knicks allowed 108.2 points per game last season, which ranked second-best in the NBA. But their defense provided zero resistance to the Celtics, who put up 113 points in three quarters, as New York was on the other side of a shooting avalanche. Tom Thibodeau’s teams are always known for their stout defense and they have a lot of work to do after a dreadful showing.
TNT
TNT basically had one job to do before the Celtics and Knicks tipped off: show Boston raising the championship banner. But TNT couldn’t even do that properly. The broadcast cut away in the middle of the Celtics raising the championship banner to the rafters, leaving fans at home to scramble to see the end of the ceremony.