Celtics Raise 18th Championship Banner to Start Their Title Defense
Celtics Raise 18th Championship Banner to Start Their Title Defense
By Keith Mado October 23, 2024 22:27
The 2024-25 NBA season has started, and who better to headline the marquee than the champs, the Boston Celtics, and the New York Knicks? The night started with the Celtics celebrating their 18th NBA title with a ring ceremony and a banner-raising. Joe Mazzula and his Cs dominated last season and capped it off by thrashing the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals to capture the team’s first title since 2008. It was a solemn and prestigious moment for the organization, as the sold-out TD Garden watched as their team received their rings while donning special warmup jackets trimmed in gold, with 18 championship trophies embroidered on the sleeves.
From the get-go, the Celtics showed why they’re still the favorites to win the championship this year as they wiped the new and improved New York Knicks off the floor. Tatum and his teammates were hot offensively, knocking down almost every attempt they hoisted from beyond the arc.
The champs tied the NBA record for 3s in a game with 8:54 left in the fourth quarter, shooting 29-for-48 (60.4%) from deep. However, they couldn’t beat the record after hauling 13 straight misses from downtown for the rest of the game.
The Celtics finished their season opener with a commanding 132-109 win over the Knicks and started their title defense on a good note. Joe Mazzulla is running a tight ship in Boston, and his squad looks like a well-oiled machine on both sides of the floor.
“We work on reads every single day in practice,” Tatum said, “and that’s essentially all we do. We got plays and things, but we just make reads. We know where to be, we know when to cut, we know when to space the floor, and we know when to make the extra pass.”
Going up against the Celtics is a tall order for any team in the league, more so for a newly constructed squad like the Knicks. But despite their forgettable season opener, New York are still the second favorites to come out of the East and the third favorites to win the NBA title. We still have a ton of basketball ahead of us, and the Knicks can only get better from here.
LATEST
- NEWS
- |
- ARTICLES
- |
- VIDEOS