Celtics break NBA record for most 1st-quarter points through first 3 games of a season

Boston has scored a staggering 118 first-quarter points to kick off its title defense.

The Celtics are already breaking NBA records just three games into the young season.

After dropping 42 on the Detroit Pistons in the first quarter Saturday night, Boston surpassed the league record for most 1Q points through the beginning three games of a season.

The Celtics have scored a total of 118 points in their first three opening frames, breaking the previous record of 114 held by the 1991-92 Golden State Warriors, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Dick Lipe.

Boston kicked off the new season by scoring 43 points against the New York Knicks in their first quarter of action since clinching the championship in June. Then, the Celtics netted 33 versus the Washington Wizards, and now 42 in their latest matchup. That’s good for an average of 39.3 points.

On top of that ridiculous stat, Boston has also made the most first-half three-pointers through the first three games of a season (42), according to Lipe. The 2019-20 Milwaukee Bucks previously held the record with 31.

Following the Celtics’ record-tying 29 three-pointer performance versus the Knicks, New York’s Josh Hart joked that the NBA needed to drug test the entire Boston roster.

“I ain’t ever seen nothing like that before,” Hart told reporters after the game.

The Celtics are a handful of days removed from that eye-popping shooting display, and they have yet to take their collective foot off the gas.

Boston is scoring at such an unprecedented level that people in the media are floating the idea of changing the league’s shooting rules. One talking head explained that the NBA should “change the scoring” to fix the “terrible television” the Celtics are displaying on the court of late.

That presumably will not happen, but time will tell if Boston can sustain their high level of scoring not only to start games, but over the course of 48 minutes.

Nevertheless, the team, which is nearly identical to last season’s winning roster, is showing no signs of a championship hangover.