The Boston crowd chanted, “One more 3!”
The Celtics tried hard, taking 13 shots from 3-point range to break the NBA record for most threes in a game, but they missed them all. In the end, the defending champions tied the record of 29 three-pointers set by Milwaukee in 2020 during their 132-109 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
“It was almost like we got jinxed or something,” said Jaylen Brown, who scored 23 points and made 5 of 9 from 3-point range but missed a shot that could have broken the record.
“When we were just playing, having fun, playing our style of basketball, everything was going in,” Brown said. “The crowd got into it, and we started hunting them, we couldn’t even hit the bright side of the barn.”
Jayson Tatum hit 8 of 11 from long range, and Derrick White made six as the Celtics successfully made 29 of their first 48 3-point attempts, building a 35-point lead over New York on the night Boston raised its 18th championship banner.
The Celtics made 10 of 17 three-pointers in the first quarter, leading by 19 points. They added seven in the second quarter and nine in the third. Al Horford tied the record from the left side with about nine minutes left in the game, while the Celtics were up by 33.
Then the defending champions struggled to score.
Brown and Xavier Tillman both shot airballs from beyond the arc, and the Celtics managed just three more baskets the rest of the way — all 2-pointers — with only one basket coming after the 6:37 mark. Neither team scored at all in the last 3:43.
Payton Pritchard missed five shots from long distance. Sam Hauser missed three, Tillman missed two, and Jordan Walsh missed one. Boston finished with 29 out of 61 from 3-point range.
“When we were tied, I was like ‘We’re one away from the record,’” White said. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s kind of like a no-hitter, huh? I blame myself.”
