BOSTON -- From receiving their 2024 championship rings and raising Banner 18 to the rafters in a special pregame ceremony to routing the new-look New York Knicks by 23 points, the Celtics had an almost-perfect start to the 2024-25 season.
Why "almost," you ask?
Well, the NBA record for 3-pointers in a single game is 29. And the Celtics were already up to 29 made threes with a full nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
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Al Horford ties the NBA record with this 3-PT FG! It is your Drain of the Game
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 23, 2024
Presented by John’s Sewer And Drain Cleaning pic.twitter.com/NdfQEbImc5
But with NBA immortality on the doorstep, the C's promptly missed 13 straight 3-pointers over the final eight minutes to finish 29 for 61 from beyond the arc and settle for a share of the record with the 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks.
Boston's attempt at history got so comical that the restless TD Garden crowd started chanting "One more three!" late in the fourth quarter as C's players hoisted brick by brick. Sharpshooter Sam Hauser, who was responsible for four of those 13 misses, understood the fans' lament.
"We tried our best, man!" Hauser said on Celtics Postgame Live, as seen in the video player above. "We missed like 15 in a row, but we were taking great shots. Ball was moving, finding the right guy. We just couldn't get it to go. So, sorry about that, Boston."
But Hauser also made sure to acknowledge the absurdity of the crowd (somewhat sarcastically) jeering a team that was blowing out its conference rival after celebrating a championship.
"Man, we got booed on ring night up 30. How about that?" Hauser added.
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The fourth quarter was a bizarre end to an otherwise brilliant night of Celtics basketball. The C's came out swinging with 10 3-pointers in the first quarter (the most ever by a team in the first quarter of a season opener) and had 17 triples by halftime. While Jayson Tatum was the catalyst -- he went a blistering 8 for 11 from 3-point range en route to a game-high 37 points -- the entire team got involved, with all five starters making at least three 3-pointers.
That trigger-happy offensive attack was a big reason why the Celtics won Banner 18 and helped them eviscerate a supposedly dangerous Knicks team on Tuesday night. Which made it all the more strange that Boston couldn't buy a bucket in the fourth quarter.
"It was almost like we got jinxed or something," Celtics star Jaylen Brown joked after the game. "When we were 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. Like, everything was off.
"We had a bunch of great looks, and it was like a lid on the basket."
Unfortunately for the Celtics, they'll have to settle for a blowout win and some fancy championship rings. As for that NBA record? There's always Thursday night in Washington against the Wizards (tip-off at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.)