Before Danilo Gallinari joined the Celtics last offseason, the 34-year-old was making himself a difficult assignment for Boston to guard on the floor.
This brought back memories of one specific matchup two years ago, which Gallinari detailed as now a member of the Celtics.
When Boston faced Gallinari, who at the time was a member of the Atlanta Hawks, on Feb. 24, 2021, he delivered a jaw-dropping performance by making it rain from beyond the arc. Gallinari connected on 10-of-12 3-pointers which set a Hawks franchise record while scoring 38 points off the bench. That inner Stephen Curry performance also marked Gallinari’s most made outside shots in a single game in his 13-year NBA career.
Looking back on that highlight reel-worthy night, Gallinari remembered not wanting to take his foot off the gas.
“We were winning by 30 at one point and I was like, ‘I’m sure coach is gonna take me out because we up by 20, but I wanna play cause I wanna break some record,'” Gallinari said on the “View From The Rafters” podcast. “I broke some records with that game with the 10 3’s. It was most from a bench player, the most in the Hawks history. But I wanted to break an NBA record.”
The Hawks went on to defeat the Celtics, 127-112, while Gallinari finished as the game’s leading scorer and gave Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who at the time was head coach, a reason to bring him to Boston.
“It’s just one of those games where everything is going well for you,” Gallinari said. “… And you see the basket, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And it was just a good game.”
