Josh Hart jokingly calls for the record-setting Celtics to be drug tested

Celtics

“I’ve never seen anything like this, man.”

The Celtics opened the season in style on Tuesday night, picking up a stunning victory over the rival New York Knicks and making an NBA-record 29 3-pointers in front of the TD Garden crowd.

After the game, Knicks guard Josh Hart was asked if the Celtics did anything unusual to get so many open looks.

Hart shook his head and made a joke about the Celtics' shooting performance.

“I don't know. The NBA has to test them all for drugs,” Hart said in one Video posted by SNY on X. “I’ve never seen anything like this, man. I mean, you have to give them credit.”

“They were already an explosive team and obviously there was an energy in the arena that was contagious,” he added. “They played extremely well and we'll look at it, we'll learn from it, look at some of our defensive mishaps that led to other shots, but it's game one. We have (81) others.”

The Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum and his revamped jump shot, buried 10 3-pointers in the first quarter.

As they rushed towards the record, they heard how close they had come to the building. Derrick White said he started asking about it around their 26th appearance. After Al Horford tied the record with his 29th goal, the crowd began to clamor for another goal.

But the Celtics went cold, missing 13 straight 3-point attempts in the final eight minutes of the game.

The Celtics are now tied with the Milwaukee Bucks, who set the record in 2020.

Boston's Jrue Holiday, who was with Milwaukee at the time, led the Bucks with six three-pointers in that game.

Holiday went 4-6 from 3 against the Knicks on Tuesday night. The Celtics finished the game 29 of 61 from 3, which was 10 more errors than the Bucks.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports reporter

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Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

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