BOSTON — Even for the Celtics, their 3-point prowess against the Knicks on Tuesday for ring night was off the charts. They made 10 3-pointers in the first quarter alone, sprinting toward a blowout victory that was never close after the opening frame.
So when the Celtics had made 26 3-pointers through three quarters, NBA history seemed inevitable. The NBA record for most 3s made in a single game was 29, set by the Bucks back in 2020. The Celtics even tied the record after making their 29th 3-pointer with 8:54 left in the quarter.
The Garden crowd was already soaring high after ring night, but then they wanted to see history. There were chants of “one more 3″ that rung throughout the arena. They cheered whenever the Celtics got the ball back in hopes they could knock down that record-breaking 3. But all in all, it never came: The Celtics missed 13 straight 3s to end the game in an amusing twist. Josh Hart even joked the C’s should be drug tested.
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“I didn’t know but it was almost like we got jinxed or something,” Jaylen Brown said. “It was like when we were just playing, having fun, playing our style of basketball, everything was going in. And then once the crowd got into it and we started hunting them, we couldn’t even hit the broad side of the barn. Everything was off. We got a bunch of great looks and it was like a lid on the basket. So that just shows, like, we’re not a team that’s hunting 3s.”
Despite missing history, it was a confidence-boosting victory for the Celtics. As they showed in the preseason, their offensive execution is still top-notch. The C’s have long been known for putting up plenty of 3s, but they took it to another level Tuesday. They shot 29-for-61 overall from behind the arc. So, yes, even with 13 straight misses from deep to close out the game, they still finished at a startling 47.5%.
Jayson Tatum led the way with an 8-for-11 showing as he poured in 37 points and 10 assists. A lot has been made about his retooled jumper, but he didn‘t show any signs of rust in the season opener. Derrick White was also 6-for-10 from 3 for 24 points; Jrue Holiday was 4-for-6 from deep as he finished with 18 points. The bench shooters actually struggled — Payton Pritchard at 1-for-9 and Sam Hauser at 2-for-7 — as they weren’t quite able to close out the deal.
But these are still the Celtics. So perhaps another chance at making history will come at some point this year, though it’ll take another hot-shooting performance. But as they showed Tuesday, that can come in a flash — even on a special night like ring night.
“I asked around like 26 what it was, and then someone told me,” White said. “And then when we were tied, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re one away from the record.’ I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s kind of like a no-hitter, huh. I blame myself for that one. … I had all the faith in the world in those guys. Got unbelievable looks. But the basketball gods said no today.”
