Duke basketball alum [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] opened the 2024-25 season on Tuesday night by picking up right where he left off.
Tatum scored 37 points and added 10 assists against the New York Knicks in the season opener, helping the Boston Celtics to a 132-109 victory.
The best former Blue Devil in the league made 14 of his 18 attempts from the floor, including eight of his 11 3-point attempts, and pulled down four rebounds. The Celtics, as a team, tied an NBA record with 29 3-pointers for the game.
Tatum won his first NBA championship with the Celtics at the end of last season, putting a stamp on one of the best seasons in league history. Boston finished with a 64-18 record, seven more wins than any other team and 14 more than any other Eastern Conference franchise. The Celtics only lost three games between their four playoff series, and Tatum led the team in points, assists, and rebounds over the title run.
Tatum, the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, later won his second consecutive Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Paris, making him the first Blue Devil with two of those on his mantle.