BOSTON — Those wondering what the Celtics’ two biggest additions might bring to the table this season didn’t have to wait long.
All-Star big man Al Horford went first, flashing his range less than two minutes into Wednesday’s season opener against the Brooklyn Nets by hitting a 3-pointer for his first points in Green.
Later in the quarter, it was Jaylen Brown’s turn. After getting his first bucket on a layup, the hard-charging rookie dropped jaws with an unsuccessful but highly ambitious dunk attempt.
Those two plays were just part of a nice debut for the newcomers at TD Garden: The versatile Horford racked up 11 points, five rebounds, six assists and a game-high four blocks, while Brown tallied nine points in 19 minutes with two rebounds and an assist.
“It felt great, man,” Horford said of his first game with Boston, a 122-117 Celtics win. “It was a relief more than anything. Just happy to finally get out there and start the regular season.”
The 20-year-old Brown, who’s on the opposite end of the spectrum from the 30-year-old veteran, felt a different emotion.
“I was nervous,” Brown said of his NBA debut. “On a scale of 1 to 10, about maybe a seven or eight. Just opening night, starting your career — you’re anxious, you just want to come out, you have a lot of energy, and it’s hard to suppress some of that energy, but I guess I did a good job.”
There were, of course, some growing pains: Brown was on the floor for the Nets’ furious fourth-quarter comeback while Horford watched from the bench. But head coach Brad Stevens seemed pleased with the play of his rookie.
“I thought he had a lot of good moments. I did,” Stevens said of Brown. “I thought overall offensively we were pretty sound as a group; I thought defensively we were a sieve. But I thought that Jaylen did a pretty good job for a first game.”
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Let’s hit a few other notes from Celtics-Nets:
— The sellout TD Garden crowd was in full force for Boston’s home opener, and it also brought jokes.
The Celtics, of course, took Brown third overall in this year’s NBA Draft with the pick that Brooklyn would have owned had it not traded it away in the teams’ 2013 blockbuster.
Boston also owns the Nets’ first-round pick in 2017 and 2018, for what it’s worth.
— Plenty of eyes were on Horford and Brown, but Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder were the two best offensive players for the Celtics.
Thomas dropped a game-high 25 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while Crowder tallied 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
— Boston also played excellent team basketball with 36 assists on 48 made baskets, nine of which came from Thomas. The Celtics’ newcomer certainly enjoyed all that sharing.
“Yeah, it was great,” Horford said. “Guys were really moving the ball well, and that’s kind of contagious when you start having some success like that. … I was impressed — 36 assists, that’s pretty good.”
— Kelly Olynyk joined Marcus Smart as Boston’s two inactives for opening night. The Celtics big man still is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, and according to Stevens, it might be a few more games before he’s ready for action.
“Kelly went to the doctor yesterday, (who) gave him probably a more clear timeline,” Stevens said before the game. “He’s still probably a couple weeks away, but he’s doing 5-on-5, and it’s just a matter of ramping it up so that the next day, the fatigue is less and less.”
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
