– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — Though Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum already had his moment playing at home in the first regular-season game after winning an NBA championship, one could not help think that those same vibes would be present now that he into Friday with the shoe on the other foot: opening a home campaign, but with the newly-crowned kings of the league’s castle coming to town.
As if Tatum needed any more motivation to put on a show, which he most certainly did to ensure the perfect start to life in the new season on the parquet floor.
Tatum dropped 36 points, including seven in the final 84 seconds when the game was in the balance, as the Celtics held off the charge of the defending-champion New York Knicks 107-103 inside TD Garden on Friday night. Boston forced 18 turnovers against the Knicks as it kept New York on its heels for most of the game on the defensive end — long enough for Tatum to find his footing as he scored 25 points in the second half.
“Look at the stat sheet tonight, you know, 14 for 26, 36 points. I mean that’s probably the game that everybody expects 82 nights a year,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I’ll be a betting man that he gets something similar to that most nights, but his greatness has to be in other ways for us and defensively as well. He takes on the challenge of being disruptive defensively.”
Tatum also took on the challenge of making sure the Celtics didn’t let a 12-point fourth-quarter lead completely slip from their hands, as a Jalen Brunson free-throw line jumper cut Boston’s lead to 99-98 with just under two minutes remaining. The next three possessions for the Celtics all ended with swishes through the hoop from the hands of Tatum: back-to-back mid-range jumpers, including a tough baseline fadeaway with the shot clock running down, before a three-pointer from the wing with 30 seconds remaining to open a six-point lead, 106-100.
“Honestly, I guess it would just be as simple as reading the game. Playing against the defense, they can’t take away everything, right?,” Tatum said. “Even when we scout, I guess there are certain things that you’re more willing to live with than others. When you’re coming down the court, you’re just processing our spacing, timing of the game, what defenders they have out there. So it’s just making the right read.”
The game also marked for former New York Knick and 2026 NBA champion Mitchell Robinson playing against his old club while wearing Celtic green. He scored four points in 22 minutes, and was a large part of the reason the Celtics bothered New York with the series of screens on the offensive end that the Knicks were worn down by for crucial stretches of each half.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday night’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 56 pictures in total.
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