Kevin Garnett and his Boston teammates (above) wore “Boston Stands as One” practice T-shirts before the game.
BOSTON UNCOMMON: Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce address the crowd in a show of unity in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. Kevin Garnett and his Boston teammates (inset) wore “Boston Stands as One” practice T-shirts before the game. (NY Post: Charles Wenzelberg; Reuters (inset))
Knicks star Carmelo Anthony had just addressed the Madison Square Garden crowd about support for the city of Boston after the tragic Marathon bombing and subsequent harrowing events. Celtics star Paul Pierce took the microphone.
Initially, some fans saw only “Boston” in their minds and New Yorkers, being New Yorkers, booed. But other New Yorkers, being New Yorkers, hushed down the malcontents. Pierce expressed thanks, then made the promise of his city.
“Boston will rise and run again,” Pierce said.
After making all Boston miserable with his 36-point performance, Anthony reprimanded the fans who booed.
“I don’t think that was the right thing to do, boo somebody like that. At the end of the day we all know what happened in Boston,” Anthony said after the Knicks won Game 1 of the first-round series, 85-78. “Our prayers go out to the families and the city of Boston. … We all won. It’s all about the U.S. It’s our country. It’s sad we’ve got to go through unfortunate tragedies like that. I don’t think whoever booed him should have booed him, not in a situation like that.”
The Celtics, obviously, have been affected in personal ways. Celtics coach Doc Rivers saw it Friday and admitted an obvious truth: his team is comprised of human beings. The playoffs against the Knicks was the task, but hearts and minds were with family, friends and affected strangers back in Boston.
“[Friday] was a strange day. You’re going to practice and you hear guys on the phone and literally everyone calling home yelling, or you could hear them, ‘Stay in the house,’” Rivers said. “Going to practice, I even told our staff, ‘We’re going to make a lot of mistakes in practice. There’s no way their focus is where it should be.’ And you felt that going into practice and honestly, we were right. Practice [bore] out that way.”
Some players watched the events and reports of the manhunt and shootout. Some didn’t. All had at least some of their thoughts and attention back home. And the capture of the second suspect brought some relief.
“The news stayed on in the room. It was [surreal], like it was for everybody, seeing the swat teams,” guard Avery Bradley said. “I know for the people in Watertown it was crazy. I’m just happy that everybody is fine, and they got who they needed to get.
“It’s hard, but all I could do was pray that everything is OK.”
So the Celtics returned to the business of basketball which seemed like such a relief. After the tragedy and raw nerve emotions of the week, things started getting back to normal.
“Thank gosh it’s over,” Rivers said. “It was good to see everybody in the city happy hugging and rejoicing. And I’m sure our players had a chance to exhale because their families were still back there.”