Not much tension to Game 1 at TD Garden, other than new-old Celtics ownership. Now there's a big bowl of awkward.
Orlando led the Celtics at halftime Sunday at TD Garden, but there was
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Now there's a big bowl of awkward. For those of you who've not been paying attention, Wyc's family put the Celts up for sale last year and Pags tried to buy the team from his partner, only to be steamrolled by
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Yikes. Seeing these captains of basketball industry making nice in the front row was like watching Jennifer Lopez at Fenway seated between Ben Affleck and Alex Rodriguez. Or maybe Kendrick Lamar with Drake and Serena Williams at any Super Bowl of your choice. Or Eric Clapton and the late George Harrison with Patti Boyd.
Anyway. You get the point.
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Coming into this game, the big question for the Celtics was
'I think Jaylen worked to get good shots,'' said coach Joe Mazzulla. 'He knows how to take care of himself. He's right where he wants to be, which is where we need him to be.''
Bored like the rest of us, Jayson Tatum scored only 17 points (8 of 22 shooting), but Derrick White (who never makes the wrong move on a basketball court — wonder if Deion Sanders will retire his Colorado jersey?) made up for it with 30 on 10 of 18 marksmanship, including 7 of 12 from international waters. It should tell you something that the Celtics built a 19-point lead in a game in which Tatum, Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis made only 15 of 44 shots.
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Payton Pritchard (yes, he is better than Larry Siegfried) scored 19 points in 25 minutes and maybe created the loudest roars with his four buckets on six 3-point attempts.
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Mazzulla talked a lot about 'physicality', rebounding, and 50/50 balls. It's a polite way of reminding us that the only way the Celtics can have trouble against the Magic is if they go through the motions. The talent gap is significant.
The Celtics are nine deep and bury good teams under an avalanche of threes. Boston made a record 1,457 threes during the 2024-25 season. They shot 48.2 threes per game. An NBA game, without overtime, is 48 minutes.
Boston went 16-3 in its indominable playoff run last spring and it's not realistic to expect them to finish in June without losing more than three games, but it's impossible to imagine them losing to the gritty-but not-ready Magic.
No one seemed to be sweating during Game 1.
My favorite moment came when Mr. and Mrs. Wyc Grousbeck got up from their seats with
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Is there a Tomato Can Ride in the Magic Kingdom?
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
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