Celtics, CT Sun ‘Big Brother’ Connection Plays Out At TD Garden

BOSTON — There’s a connection between the Connecticut Sun and the Boston Celtics even though the two franchises reside just over 100 miles from one another.

The Sun and Celtics grew closer Tuesday night with Connecticut taking over TD Garden for the first ever WNBA game at the venue. The Sun marked the momentous occasion with a 69-61 win over the Los Angeles Sparks in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,156.

Sun head coach Stephanie White said she didn’t hear from anyone in the Celtics organization in the lead-up to the game, but chatted with Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, an Indiana native like White, when it was revealed in December that the WNBA would be coming to Boston.

“When I found out we were playing here, I reached out him and was just talking about how excited I was,” White said. “Certainly being up here in the playoffs and being able to come to games — the Celtics have been good to us and they continue to be good to us. They also understand what all is involved with preparing a team to play. … They’ve been a great big brother to us in a sense and we’re just excited to be able to share the momentum that they made certainly winning the championship and be able to share this experience.”

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The Celtics did make sure to show their support as several players came out to see the Sun pull away late with a 14-2 run and move to 20-7 on the season. Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday, both of whom are fresh off winning a gold medal at the Olympics with Team USA, both sat courtside to watch the action and took pictures after the game with DiJonai Carrington and Alyssa Thomas. Rookies Baylor Scheierman and Anton Watson also were in attendance.

The last time White was in TD Garden was to watch the Celtics close out the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 in the NBA Finals two months ago. She said she got to partake in the celebration that night, and Tuesday was a cause for more celebration with her team this time front and center and the Celtics watching from the stands.

“It was incredibly walking out there,” White said. “When they were doing our intro video, I literally had tears in my eyes. … I love this game, I love this league. When you’ve been a part of it in a lot of different ways to have these incredible moments, it means a lot.

“Of course as you age, you recognize the moment a little bit more than sometimes when you’re younger. It’s something I’ll never forgot. I hope our players don’t either.”