The Celtics and the Knicks looked like they were playing different sports Tuesday night.
Boston put on a performance for the ages after receiving its 2024 NBA championship rings and raising a new banner to the TD Garden rafters. The C’s torched New York, one of the league’s best defensive teams last season, for 132 points in a decisive 23-point win. And over 65% of Boston’s points came from behind the 3-point line, where Joe Mazzulla’s side nearly set a new single-game record.
Josh Hart was asked about the Celtics’ 3-point barrage after the season-opening showdown, and the Knicks guard couldn’t help but jokingly make a plea to Adam Silver and company.
“NBA needs to drug test all of them. I’ll tell you that right now,” Hart told reporters, per an SNY video. “That was — I’ve never seen anything like that before, man.”
After fielding a bunch of laughs from the media, Hart went on to tip his cap to the reigning champs.
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“You got to give them credit. man,” Hart told reporters. “They’re an explosive team. Obviously, there was an energy in the arena. It was contagious. They played extremely well. We’ll look at it, we’ll learn from it. Look at some of the defensive mishaps we had.”
New York will have to wait a little while for another crack at Boston. The longtime rivals won’t meet again until Feb. 8 when they battle at Madison Square Garden.
