The Boston Celtics made a statement against the New York Knicks on NBA opening night, and they tied an NBA record in the process. In total, the Celtics made 30 total threes on Tuesday night, tying the NBA team record for most shots made from three-point range.
Once again, Boston has reminded everyone of their historic dominance on the offensive end of the court, as they tied the Milwaukee Bucks' record of 29 made threes in 2020.
At halftime, the Celtics were 17-of-32 from three-point range, which tied their franchise record for triples in the first half of any game. Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston from beyond the arc in the first half with six total triples. Each of the five Celtics starters made at least two shots from long range in the first half on Tuesday night.
There has never been a dominant performance on NBA opening night like the Celtics put together in their first game since winning the 2024 NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks. Last season, Joe Mazzulla reinvented Boston's high-powered offense, putting an emphasis on perimeter shots over anything else. In doing so, the Celtics went on to lead the league in three-pointers made (1,351), and they finished second during the regular season in three-point shooting percentage (38.8%).
To keep things simple, Boston simply could not miss from three-point range against the Knicks.
It seemed like TD Garden was going to explode with Boston's 30th made three against New York. However, this moment never happened, as the Celtics missed 13 straight three-point shots after Al Horford knocked down the team's 29th three with 8:54 remaining in the game.
Al Horford buried the Celtics' 29th three with 8:54 remaining. After that:
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 3
– Missed 313 straight misses from deep to break the NBA record 🤯 pic.twitter.com/expozuQc3B
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 23, 2024
In total, the Celtics' starters combined to shoot 26-for-41 (63.4%) from three-point range. Tatum led the way with 37 points on 8-of-11 shooting from deep and 10 assists. Sam Hauser made two triples off the bench, and Payton Pritchard made just one of his nine shots from the perimeter off the bench.
Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and Jrue Holiday were the only Celtics starters to see minutes in the fourth quarter, as Tatum and Derrick White did not play over the final 12 minutes of Tuesday night's game. Although setting the three-point record against their rivals would've been an amazing moment for Boston and their fans, Mazzulla seemed to have other ideas by taking his starters out in favor of the team's bench players.
The Celtics now join the Bucks as the only two teams in NBA history to make 29 threes in a single game. The good news for Boston is that they have 81 more games over the course of the 2024-25 season to try and break this record.