With a championship ring fresh in his hands, Jayson Tatum had a simple message to the fans gathered at TD Garden to watch the Boston Celtics raise their 18th banner.

“Let’s do it again,” he said.

After a 132 to 109 demolition of the visiting New York Knicks to open the NBA season, the Celtics looked as poised as any team ever has to repeat as champions.

The night started off as a proper coronation for the current kings of the court. Celtics legends Bob Cousy, Cedric Maxwell, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were on hand to honor the latest group of Boston champions.

Raising yet another banner to the TD Garden rafters was just one part of the evening. In addition, each member of last year’s championship roster, along with the front office and coaching staff, got a mammoth ring complete with 15 carats of white diamonds.

“That ring is just an object, right?” said Jaylen Brown, who finished with 23 points. “But it’s everything: the emotions, the heartbreak, the embarrassment, the work, the drive, the dedication. That’s what that ring represents, you know what I mean?”

That amount of pomp and circumstance could have easily been a distraction. But the Celtics were ruthless throughout the game. Tatum, in particular, finished with 37 points, four rebounds and 10 assists.

“Shot felt good, I was in a good rhythm and things like that,” Tatum said after the game. “And I think just offensively I feel like we just kind of picked up from where we left off last year. We brought almost everybody back. We play to our strengths, we know what we’re trying to do.”

We were physical on defense and we played together on offense. And it’s a credit to them.
Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics head coach

It was a night in which nearly everything clicked for Boston. The team tied an NBA record by draining 29 threes, cranked out 33 assists and generally made life miserable for New York.

Boston is already favored to win a second-straight championship, something the NBA hasn’t seen since 2018. And an opening night beatdown of an opponent with big Eastern Conference aspirations is a telltale sign that they may be on the right track to do just that.

But even the best wins only count once, something the coaching staff is keen to keep top of mind.

“This result does not matter once we wake up tomorrow morning,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “But the biggest thing I’m proud of is the mindset of the guys. We weren’t stuck in the past. We were able to transition from what got us to where we were to where we’re trying to get to with the intangibles. And they came out and it was a great start. And