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Tim Bontemps, ESPN
BOSTON — It took 16 years, but the Celtics officially raised banner No. 18 to the TD Garden rafters Tuesday night, as the franchise celebrated its record-setting 18th NBA championship ahead of its season-opening 132-109 win over the New York Knicks, a game in which Boston tied the NBA record for 3-pointers.
“I can honestly say, to the best fans in the world,” Jayson Tatum said with a smile during the pregame ceremony, “let’s do it again.”
After years of playoff disappointment and heartbreak, Boston tore through the league last season, winning 64 games in the regular season before cruising through the playoffs with ease, going 16-3 to claim the organization’s first title since 2008.
And, after rattling off the team’s accomplishments, including going 37-4 at home in the regular season, much to the delight of the sellout crowd, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck smiled and said that they were, “Pretty damn good.”
“In a storied history that includes 23 retired jerseys,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, “now, this special Celtics team is creating a history of its own as we enter the 79th season of the NBA.”
As part of that celebrated history of the Celtics franchise, several legends from the team’s past were on hand — from Bob Cousy, who won six of those titles in the NBA’s early seasons; to Cedric Maxwell, who won an NBA Finals MVP award and a pair of titles; to the anchors of the last team to claim a title here: Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, together again and celebrating being the second-to-last Celtics team to win hardware.
“What an incredible night. The aura in the arena was amazing, having the legendary Celtics in the building … it’s almost like they were passing the torch,” Jaylen Brown said after the game.
He continued, “My rookie year, when I got drafted, this is what I said I would do — I would go to war for this city, and it’s great to watch that banner get raised.”
The crowd exploded on a few occasions during the introductions of the coaches and players — specifically for former coach and current president of basketball operations Brad Stevens; coach Joe Mazzulla, who kissed the floor as he walked out to get his ring from Silver; Kristaps Porzingis, who is out for at least the next couple of months recovering from offseason ankle surgery; and Brown and Tatum, the team’s two stars who were introduced last.
Then, with the rings handed out, the team’s focus shifted to the task at hand: a highly-anticipated showdown with New York, a team that is hoping to do this season what the Celtics did last year — and spent the summer acquiring a pair of big names in Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns in an effort to do that.
“I mean, whenever a team wins the championship, everyone analyzes how they did it and what their personnel was and what their scheme was and everything,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said Tuesday morning after the Knicks held their morning shootaround at TD Garden. “And so, I don’t want to speak for the rest of the league, but a lot of people saw how successful they were with their offense and their five out and their schemes and whatever. And so, it may not be a carbon copy, but everyone will want to kind of adjust to the new ways of basketball every time someone wins like that.”
