The Celtics raised Banner 18, then showed the Knicks how they did it

BOSTON — Just a few hours after they received their 2024 championship rings, the Celtics tied an NBA record for most three-pointers in a single game, hitting 29 threes en route to a 132-109 blowout win over the Knicks.

The thrashing — a physical manifestation of Mazzulla Ball — fittingly came after Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck deemed the Celtics “one of the finest teams ever assembled in the NBA”, and Commissioner Adam Silver proclaimed them the “winningest franchise in NBA history.”

In every sense, Banner Night exceeded expectations for the fans who inundated TD Garden hours before tip-off. Celtic greats Bob Cousy, Cedric Maxwell, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen were in the house for the ceremony, as was every player on last year’s championship team (with the exceptions of Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett). Cousy, who turned 96 in August, was wheeled onto the floor, throwing up two peace signs toward the crowd.

Players and coaches alike stressed the significance of having multiple generations of Celtics in attendance, with Al Horford citing the moment he saw them as the moment that spurred the most emotion.

“Man, these are legends,” Horford said postgame. “There’s a responsibility. There’s the Celtic legacy. We talk about a lot of these things and and I feel like that was a really special moment for me — just seeing them come out, and us embracing them. It was very special.”

Joe Mazzulla — who kissed the parquet when it was his turn to get his ring — called the presence of Cousy and company one of the most critical components of the celebration.

“We wouldn’t be the Celtics without those guys, if they didn’t hold their end of the responsibility and the ownership,” he said.

Jayson Tatum pointed out he was 10 years old when Pierce, Allen, and Garnett won the last Celtics’ ring.

“I’m still a fan of those guys,” Tatum said. “They were a part of my childhood.”

As far the ceremony itself?

Mazzulla quipped he’d probably never wear the massive ring, but that the banner itself was the most special part.

“I come in here every afternoon and take a look at those, and they represent so much,” Mazzulla said. “And so, the banner was the highlight for me, because it represents a lot of things that go into it, and then the rafters have a life of their own in this building.”

Brown, meanwhile, said his championship ring stood for everything he’s experienced throughout his career.

“It’s everything — emotions, the heartbreak, embarrassment, the work, the drive, the dedication, that’s what that ring represents,” Brown said. “All of that is what you feel.”

A number of balcony fans expressed their joy and appreciation for the moment, explaining how they’d been diehards for the Celtics for years, and that the 2024 ring ceremony was a dream fulfilled.

Jayson Tatum agreed that the moment was worth the wait: “It was everything I thought it would be — and more.”

Knicks-Celtics was the fitting follow-up to an emotional ceremony

After the jewelry was collected and the banner was raised, the show was just beginning. And immediately, the on-court play seemed to serve as a friendly reminder of just how dominant the journey to Banner 18 was. The Celtics led the new-look Knicks by 19 points in the first quarter, and by as many 35 on the night. The outcome of the game was never in doubt — the only lingering suspense was regarding whether they’d hit the elusive 30th three-pointer to break an NBA single-game record (spoiler alert: they did not).

Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images

The cherry on top was the masterful performance of Jayson Tatum. After a summer of discourse that inexplicably centered around his shortcomings, Tatum played a near-perfect game, racking up 37 points (on 14-18 shooting), 10 assists, and just one turnover in 30 minutes of actions. The rest of the starters also all finished in double-figures; Derrick White with 24 points, Jaylen Brown with 23, Jrue Holiday with 18, and Al Horford with 11. The same starting unit that carried the Celtics through a 16-3 postseason combined to shoot a scorching 22/41 from downtown.

“The NBA needs to drug test all of them, I’ll tell you that right now,” said a stunned Josh Hart after the game. “I ain’t ever seen nothing like that before.”

But, the shooting masterpiece didn’t come out of thin air. Rather, it was borne out of a Celtics system that has empowered shooters and bred clean looks, one that’s only continuing to to bloom in Year 3 under Joe Mazzulla.

“Offensively, we just kind of picked up from where we left off last year,” said Tatum. “We play to our strengths. We know what we’re trying to do, and who we’re trying to attack. We know what sets and actions to get in. We work on it all the time — we work on reads every single day in practice, and that’s essentially all we do.”

Mazzulla appreciated his team’s ability to transition from the emotions of the ring ceremony to the basketball game itself — while pointing out the two seemingly separate events were actually quite connected.

“It was impressive to go from that to that,” Mazzulla said. “But, if you look at it the way we want to, they’re the same thing. The ring ceremony and the game are the same thing — because there are the intangibles, there are the details, the execution, the effort, the togetherness and the toughness, and so we were able to carry on those intangibles from there to there. That’s kind of the goal.”

And, whether or not that notion is intuitive for the average person, the same team that watched the banner get hung, took the opportunity to remind the world just how they did it.

“I was locked in,” Jaylen Brown said. “I wanted to start early on the defensive side, just trying to wear them down, picking up JB [Jalen Brunson] full court, just trying to make it tough for him, trying to impact the game in different ways.”

Brown, Tatum, and Horford all took the podium after the win, leaning into the reflective spirit of the night.

“My rookie year, when I got drafted, this is what I said I would do — I would go to war for the city,” Brown said. “And it’s great to watch that banner get raised.”

“It’s something I’ve been dreaming about for a very, very long time,” Tatum said. “A moment that I’ve looked forward to since I’ve gotten to the league.”

Donning a Celtics championship jacket in his postgame presser, Brown acknowledged what every fan in the building was thinking as the banner floated to the rafters: this championship was forever.

“We did something spectacular, regardless of what everybody got to say,” Jaylen Brown said. “My name, alongside my teammates’, is going to be etched down in Celtics history —which is one of the biggest franchises in basketball and sports. You can never take that from nobody that was on that team last year.”