Jayson Tatum continued Boston's Banner 18 celebration by scoring 37 points and making eight of the Celtics' NBA record-tying 29 3-pointers on Tuesday as Boston ran away with a 132-109 victory over the New York Knicks on opening night.
Derrick White scored 24 points, Jaylen Brown added 23 and Tatum had 10 assists for the defending champions, who raised their NBA-most 18th championship banner to the rafters before the game.
Boston led by as many as 35 points before missing its last 13 3-point attempts while trying to break the record. Jalen Brunson scored 22 points for New York, and new addition Karl-Anthony Towns had just 12 points and seven rebounds.
With the Celtics leading by more than 20 points early in the third quarter, the TD Garden crowd's attention strayed from the basketball game and it began chanting "Yankees Suck!" The new-look Knicks were supposed to be the biggest threat to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference, but even after adding Towns and Mikal Bridges over the summer, they were no match for the team that finished 14 games in front last season.