After watching the Celtics handle the Heat in Game 1, Charles Barkley more confident than ever in Boston's championship chances.
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By the time the Miami Heat — the Boston Celtics’ biggest Playoff nemesis of the past five years — scored their first points of the 2023-24 postseason, the Celtics had already made history.
- Roaring out to a 14-0 start, Boston became the first team of the play-by-play era to open a postseason on a 14-0 run or better
- Forty-eight minutes of hoops later, they’d set one more record, sinking 22 3-pointers and becoming the first team in postseason history to have every player who played hit a three.
A historic season: The records added yet another set of milestones to one of the greatest seasons in history for one of the game’s most iconic franchises.
Before the Celtics host the Heat in Game 2 (7 p.m. ET, TNT), check out a few of the marks Boston has set this year.
The most …
- Points in Celtics history (9887)
- Threes in a season in Celtics history (1351), 2nd in NBA behind Warriors
- Home wins to start a season in team history (20)
- Wins in a row (11) this season, tied with the Rockets
- 50-point wins in a season (3) in NBA history
- 40-point wins (4) in NBA history, tied with OKC this year
- 30-point wins (10) in NBA history, tied with 1971-72 Bucks
- Games with 15 3PM games in NBA history (63), 9 ahead of the 2022-23 Warriors & 2018-19 Rockets
The best …
- Offensive rating of the play by play era, since 1997-98 (122.2)
- Tied highest EFG% (57.8%) in the play-by-play era, 2nd in True Shooting % (60.9%)
- Highest net rating since 2000 (11.7)
- Largest margin of victory in any 11 game win streak in NBA history (+243)
The lowest …
- 2nd lowest defensive rating in the NBA this season (110.6)
The firsts …
- Team since the 1975-76 Warriors to finish the season 14 games ahead of anyone else in the conference
- Team to hit 1,300 threes in back-to-back seasons
- Team not to attempt a free throw in a full game
More in Celtics’ history …
- 2nd highest 3P% in the play by play era (38.8%), behind 08-09 team
- 4th most wins (64)
- 14th time a Celtics team has reached 60 wins
Individual accolades …
- Kristaps Porzingis became the first Celtic with 100+ blk & 100 3PM in a season
- Jayson Tatum joined Larry Bird (1983-84 to 87-88), John Havlicek (1969-70 to 72-73) and Paul Pierce (2000-01 to 03-04) as the only Celtics to score 1900 points in at least 3 straight seasons
