Boston sets the tone by playing the Knicks on Banner Night

BOSTON – The Celtics couldn’t have opened their 2024-25 season more beautifully. First, they received their championship rings and hoisted Banner 18 from the rafters. Then Boston crushed the Knicks, 132-109, on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

With a season-opening win, Boston starts 1-0, while New York starts 0-1.

Check out the full box score here.

A LARGE TAKEAWAY
Talk is cheap, but 74 points in the first half on 55.1% shooting on 49 attempts speaks (quite loudly) for itself. Boston spent media day, training camp and the entire preseason setting the record straight: last season was last season.

The Celtics, like everyone else in the NBA, are in the hunt for the next Larry O’Brien Trophy. At this point, winning the title is anyone’s game, so it makes sense to treat the campaign almost as if they didn’t even win last season. Since there have only been 13 teams in NBA history that have won consecutive championships, Boston is not abusing the crucial process required to earn the right to raise a banner.

New York simply found itself caught in the crossfire in a way that was difficult to watch.

When Boston opened its preseason against the Denver Nuggets in Abu Dhabi, shooting a total of 61 three-pointers, it signaled head coach Joe Mazzulla’s game plan to take the Celtics’ offense to a whole new level with three exhibition games. Boston averaged 42.5 attempts per three games last season, and while it’s a controversial style of basketball that has both driven and dogged the Celtics in recent years, it is buried Tom Thibodeau curtsy early.

Trading poor layups for three-pointers wasn’t a solution. Double-teaming Jayson Tatum wasn’t the solution, and newly acquired center Karl-Anthony Towns was (certainly) not the solution. New York has proven that the offseason hype is, for now, nothing more than fodder for interesting debate ahead of the Celtics’ thrilling first matchup between the Eastern Conference rivals.

For Thibodeau, a former Celtics assistant coach and Massachusetts native, it wasn’t a warm welcome at home, to say the least.

STARS OF THE GAME
– Tatum was The He is the main source of star power and scored a game-high 37 points with 10 rebounds and four assists, earning him his first double-double of the season. The 26-year-old was devastatingly efficient, shooting 14 of 18 from the floor, including 8 of 11 from 3-point range, to keep New York in check from start to finish.

— Derrick White was also efficient, shooting 8 of 13 from the field while also hitting six three-pointers. White collected three rebounds, dished out four assists and managed a steal before taking a well-deserved fourth quarter break.

– New York’s Jalen Brunson led the opposition with 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting, but also committed a game-high four turnovers and only made a single 3-pointer.

Next up are the reigning champions
Boston will take a few days off before taking on the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. Kickoff at Capital One Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.