BOSTON – The Celtics had the New York Knicks under control by the time the fourth quarter arrived and set their sights on an NBA record Tuesday night with plenty of time to accomplish the feat.

Al Horford hit Boston’s 29th triple with 8:54 to go, tying the record for most three-pointers in a single game. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Celtics would break the record given their ferocity from beyond the arc on the night.

But then came miss after miss after miss. And when the final buzzer sounded after a 132-109 win for Boston at TD Garden, the Celtics were still stuck on 29 treys after missing their last 13 three-point attempts.

It was actually the only flaw in an otherwise dominant performance.

“It was almost like we were cursed or something,” Jaylen Brown said. “When we were just playing, having fun, playing our style of basketball, everything went in.” And once the crowd got in and we started chasing them, we couldn’t even hit the right side of the barn. As if everything was over. We got a lot of great looks and it was like a lid on the basket.

The Celtics, who finished 29 of 61 (47.5%) from deep, torched the Knicks from the start with their long-range shooting. Boston converted a whopping 10 of 17 three-pointers in the first quarter and lost seven more in the second quarter. The avalanche of three-pointers continued in the third quarter, with Boston hitting nine of thirteen attempts.

The barrage also came from all sides. Jayson Tatum, who scored a career-high 37 points on ultra-efficient 14-for-18 shooting, knocked down eight triples, while Derrick White sank six and Brown knocked down five.

“The shot felt good,” Tatum said. “I was in a good rhythm and stuff like that. I think offensively I felt like we picked up where we left off last year.

The Celtics averaged the most three-point attempts per game a season ago with 42.5. If they keep up the current pace, they will shatter that goal.

Jacking up three-pointers is a staple of Joe Mazzulla ball, where it feels like the best shot is one behind the arc. But the Celtics learned a valuable lesson from the way their shooting clinic against the Knicks ended.

“That just shows that we’re not a team that chases threes,” Brown said. “I mean, we play the game and we do what we have to do. But I think it was difficult towards the end because we didn’t play the way we normally would have played. But we still had some great looks.

Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Celtics-Knicks game:

— The Celtics started the evening festively. They received their championship rings and raised Banner 18 from the TD Garden rafters. Mazzulla even had an unexpected moment during the pregame ceremony.

— The Celtics quickly left the festivities to overwhelm the Knicks, which impressed Mazzulla. The Celtics led 43-24 after the first twelve minutes and scored 74 points at halftime.

“The biggest thing I’m proud of is the mentality of the guys,” Mazzulla said. “They 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. We were physical on defense and we played together on offense and that’s a credit to them.”

– Boston’s starting five continues to pack a powerful punch. Tatum, Brown, White, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford combined to score 113 points.

— The Celtics look to make it two straight wins to start the 2024-25 season when they face the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. Tipoff from Capital One Arena is set for 7:00 PM ET.