The Celtics Tied The NBA Record For Made Threes In A Game (And Missed 13 Straight Attempts To Break It)

There was no championship hangover for the Boston Celtics in Tuesday’s ring night opener against the New York Knicks. After raising banner 18 to the rafters of the TD Garden, the Celtics went right to work dismantling the defense of the new-look Knicks, raining in threes at a historic clip.

It took 12 seconds for the Celtics to hit their first three of the night, as Jayson Tatum hit the first of his eight triples on the opening possession of the game.

From there, the Celtics just never stopped pouring in shots from deep, as they took advantage of a Knicks team very clearly still trying to get on the same page defensively after making some major changes this summer. New York was a step slow in rotations all night and there isn’t a worse team to face than the Celtics when that’s the case, as they will hoist threes if given a sliver of space, much less wide open looks all night.

The Celtics buried 10 threes in the first quarter, 17 in the first half, and by the early fourth quarter they had tied the NBA record for made threes in a game when Al Horford cashed in a shot from the corner for their 29th of the night with 8:54 to play.

At that point it felt inevitable that the Celtics would break the record, but then the entire team went ice cold and the pressure of making NBA history started to mount as Boston’s reserves tried to get the job done. Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Xavier Tillman, and Jordan Walsh all got up looks in fourth to break the record but went a combined 0-for-13, with the crowd growing antsier with each miss, rising to their feet in hopes of seeing a little history. Instead, they had to settle for tying the record held by the 2020 Milwaukee Bucks, a 132-109 blowout win of a chief rival, and seeing another banner go into the rafters.

Tatum led the way with his eight threes (on 11 attempts), as he showed proof of his new and improved jump shot on his way to 37 points and 10 assists, as all five of Boston’s starters made three or more from deep — Derrick White (6-of-10), Jaylen Brown (5-of-9), Jrue Holiday (4-of-6), and Al Horford (3-of-5). The bench did not fare as well, but they certainly were aware of what was on the line and just couldn’t get one to fall. Still, it was quite the showing from the Celtics, who made an emphatic statement that they’re not just going to start the season in cruise control, and will instead be out for dominance once again.