LeBron crosses the final frontier with his son Bronny, while the champion Celtics border on perfection | Relief

In sport, on many occasions, the champion begins his title defense with defeat. Tired of winning, full of pride and confident in his superiority, the current candidate surprises the favorite. In Boston the opposite has happened. The Celtics have reached the first game of the season even better than they closed the finals in June, at a plethoric level, with a historic success and in a game that for three periods has bordered on perfection in attack. With Jayson Tatum recovered from any shooting crisis, Jaylen Brown remembering that he was the MVP of the finals and a devastating starting five, he has passed over the New York Knicks, who came to Boston as candidates and leave with more questions than they brought in their suitcase.

Because the new Knicks couldn’t even cough on the champion. They lasted six minutes before the first set that broke the game, a rush by Tatum with the second unit. The new Olympic champion had 37 points and 10 assists, going 8/11 in triples and 4 rebounds in the first game of the season. None of the New York defenders, who arrived at Madison Square Garden to stop him, knew how in a much more scoring and fluid version in attack. At his side, Derrick White (24 points, 4/6 triples) and Jaylen Brown (23 points, 5/9 triples). Because yes, the Celtics are back, making it rain triples like May water.

At the end of the first quarter they had made 10 three-pointers and the lead was 19 points. At half-time, still with a 19-point difference, there were already 17 long-distance shots and a success rate of over 53%. They scored nine of the 13 they shot in the third, they led by 30 and the night seemed like it was going to be historic. With nine minutes they equaled the record for most triples scored in a game, with 29, which the Milwaukee Bucks have controlled since 2020. “The NBA should do a drug test on all of them,” joked Josh Hart, Knicks forward. And after the 29th, Joe Mazzulla sent the substitutes to the court to break the number and they failed thirteen consecutive times, all of them. They could not keep the mark alone and were left at only 29.

There is good news for the Knicks despite the beating, whose difference reached 35 points (128-93) before the Celtics missed thirteen triples in a row. Mikal Bridges, who has had his new shooting mechanics analyzed ad nauseum, made seven of his eight shots in the second half after starting 0/5. Or the appearance of Miles McBride from the bench, with 22 points, the same as Jalen Brunson, in just 10 shots to the basket. Little more than a night to forget, the first of the 82 games. One that will remain for eternity in the history of the Celtics.

There were four minutes left before halftime when LeBron James was preparing to return to the court. Next to him, sitting at the scorer’s table, was his teammate and son, Bronny James, ready to make history. The two James entered the court with 51-35 on the scoreboard for the Lakers and an image that is already engraved in the historical collective of the NBA. The situation lasted just over two and a half minutes, with Ken Griffey and his son in the stands as luxury spectators, the only ones to repeat the milestone in the MLB. Bronny had time to miss two shots, get an offensive rebound and see firsthand a huge dunk by LeBron before returning to the bench with 1:19 left in the break. He didn’t come back because there was a game to win.

Here the pressure, like five years ago, falls on LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The center dominated at will in a painting, that of Minnesota, which missed Karl-Anthony Towns. He left with 36 points and 16 rebounds, beating Rudy Gobert at will and dominating both sides of the court. At his side, LeBron James with 16 points, surpassed only by Rui Hachimura and the 18 that the Japanese scored with a +19 on the court. And for the first time since 2016, the Lakers win their first game on Opening Night, something unusual in the James era.

Up front, Anthony Edwards (27 points) was the best and only resource for the Timberwolves who will need time to adapt to the new projectwithout Towns and with Julius Randle who stayed at 16 points. Patience for Minnesota, they will need it.