Celtics failure to break NBA record was more impressive than actually breaking it

Opening Night went as well as Boston Celtics fans could've possibly hoped for. They saw their team receive rings, and saw their team run the New York Knicks - arguably the second-best team in the Eastern Conference - out of their building.

The Celtics won by a final score of 132-109, and dominated from start to finish. What really excelled for Boston on Tuesday was their perimeter shooting, with Jayson Tatum front and center. They made 17 first-half threes, just one shy of tying the NBA record. They tacked on 12 more in the second half, which did tie an NBA record for threes in a game. Al Horford drilled a three-pointer with 8:54 remaining to tie the record, giving Boston ample time to break the record with one more make from beyond the arc. That make never came.

The Celtics tried their darndest, to break the record, attempting 13 three-pointers down the stretch with the game out of reach. The sold-out TD Garden crowd got excited every time they attempted a three-pointer, but were noticeably dejected every time they missed.

With the game all but over, the Celtics wound up dribbling out the clock rather than attempting another three-pointer, drawing boos from the crowd. Who would've expected that in a game in which they won by 23 points?

Virtually everything went right for the Celtics on this day, but their failure to break the record for most three-pointers in a game drew NBA fans to mock Boston — and for good reason.

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Celtics dominate, but fail in spectacular fashion to break NBA record

The Celtics couldn't miss a shot all night, and made 29 of their first 48 threes. That's 60.4 percent for those keeping score. Suddenly, once they had a chance to break the NBA record, the Celtics missed 13 in a row. How that happens I have no idea, but it was truly a sight to behold.

With the game out of reach, the Celtics had nothing better to do other than attempt to break this record. They chucked 13 threes in the final eight minutes and change, with eight of those attempts coming in the last three minutes. They failed to hit a single one.

This kind of showing gave Houston Rockets fans flashbacks to the James Harden days, when their team failed to hit a three-pointer in 27 consecutive attempts in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Obviously this wasn't that bad, but it felt like it!

The Knicks were thoroughly embarrassed on Tuesday, losing in a rout against the team they're supposed to be competing with in the Eastern Conference. Virtually nothing went right for them, but their fans can walk away from this game with this one thing. They did not allow the Celtics to hit 30 threes. 29 was fine, but they put their foot down after that.