Rude Awakening: A Beatdown in Beantown

The good news: Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals is more than 200 days away...

Final Score: Knicks 109 - Celtics 132
Record: 0-1

"The NBA needs to drug test them dudes. I ain't ever seen anything like that." - Josh Hart. 

Well, nobody had ever seen anything like that, Josh. With nine minutes left in the fourth quarter of Boston's blowout victory over the Knicks last night, Al Horford drilled a three-pointer from the right corner of a great pass from Payton Pritchard. That bucket, which gave the Celtics a 33-point lead, was the C's 29th made trey in the game.

Yes, in just 39 minutes of action, Boston had buried 29 3PTs. Up to that point, the Celtics had accounted for less than 14 minutes of total time of possession. They averaged more than two treys per minute and made one 3PT every third trip down the court.

There have been 132,130 games played in the 79-year history of the National Basketball Association. No team had ever knocked down 29 three-pointers in the first 39 minutes of any game. 

The C's would miss the rest of their triple tries to close out the fourth quarter, but the contest had long been decided by that point.

It was clear that Boston entered the evening looking to send a very strong message. All summer, they had read about the Knicks' blockbuster trades and how Leon Rose had constructed a roster tailor-made to stifle the C's offensive onslaught. 

In the past, some teams have come out flat after being presented with their championship rings. Yet, mere minutes after raising Banner 18 to the rafters, Boston immediately began targeting vulnerable matchups and creating scoring opportunities. When they saw that a particular play or action was effective, they ran it repeatedly. The Celtics scored 43 points in the first quarter, which was the second-highest 1Q total in NBA history by a team in its season debut. 

Typically, in the regular season (especially the very first game of the year), teams won't continually exploit an opponent's weakness over and over. Clubs prefer experimenting with different sets, often keeping their best cards close to the vest. 

Not this Celtics team. Not under Joe Mazzulla's watch. Not last night. When they saw Karl-Anthony Towns dropping into the paint in pick-and-rolls and that Jalen Brunson could not get over screens, they relentlessly attacked those two via high P&Rs. 

Every Boston starter scored in double figures. Jayson Tatum led the way and was flat-out dominant, pumping in a game-high 37 points (on 14-of-18 FGs) and dishing out ten assists. Derrick White scored 24 points and Jaylen Brown chipped in 23. 

By the time the final buzzer had sounded, the C's message had been sent. Loud and clear. You guys may have added some shiny new pieces, but you are not in our league. 

"That's championship-level basketball. For us, it was a punch in the mouth, and we got to respond," Deuce McBride told reporters after the game. "Obviously, it's a long year. Can't overreact to one game, but I don't think that's how you go into a year and set the tone."

The good news from last night - in addition to some bright spots on the court, which we'll discuss below - is that every loss only counts as one loss in the standings, whether you lose by one point or 51 points. 

(True story: As I walked my daughter to the bus stop this morning, she asked if the Knicks won last night. I told her they got their butts kicked. She frowned and asked sincerely, "Does that mean they are out of the playoffs now?" I chuckled and explained that there are still 81 regular-season games remaining on the schedule. "Oh, okay, so no biggie then," she said with a smile.)