A pure eruption of pent-up joy for team faithful

18 giu 2024 - The Boston Globe

By Danny Mcdonald GLOBE STAFF 

and Ava Berger and Lila Hempel-edgers GLOBE CORRESPONDENTS

Delirious with jubilation, Boston celtics fans celebrated the franchise’s 18th title, and the first since 2008, as the city’s west End was transformed into one big party Monday night, with the greenand-white clad masses pouring onto the streets near td garden following their team’s defeat of the dallas Mavericks.Kayla bartkowski For the boston Globe

“Let’s go Celtics!” the throngs chanted. some danced. some sang. some screamed. some hugged their loved ones. some embraced strangers.

Likewise, in the area’s bars, there was unbri dled joy, buoyed by alcohol and the release of 16 years of pent-up, basketball-related emotions. Spectators chanted “MVP” for Jayson tatum. there were chants regarding kyrie irving, a talented Dallas guard considered a heel by many celtics fans, that cannot be printed in a family newspaper.

“This is the most exhilarating moment of my whole life,” Vish tura, of boston, said inside Sullivan’s tap, a tavern near the Garden. “i’ve been waiting for this as long as i can remember.”

Standing next to tura was alan Xie, who articulated his glee thusly: ”Goosebumps, i have goosebumps.”

As the game clock ran down and fans in hurricane’s at the Garden erupted in cheers, annie and kyle coughlin jumped up from their seats and jumped around.

“Unbelievable,” annie coughlin said, unable to find the words to express her excitement.

“I’ve been watching them from my couch since i was 5 years old,” kyle coughlin said.

Streets in the area were shut down to cars, and there were barricades set up to control the crowds. city rules prevented bars in the area from admitting patrons after halftime, and a significant police presence could be seen around the Garden as the party stretched into late Monday night. as of 11:15 p.m., some fans had started to climb street lights and trees in the area, and it was unclear if there were any arrests in connection with the title celebrations.

Hours before tip-off, lines for local watering holes stretched down the block. Many of those who waited in line to pay a $30 cover charge at the bars expressed optimism despite the celtics’ Game 4 blowout loss in Dallas on Friday. a welter of predictions boiled down to this: the team was home, and this would be the night they would hoist the larry o’brien trophy.

“It’s going to happen,” Paul O’Connor, a 51-year-old from Woburn, said at the Greatest bar on Friend Street hours before tip-off. “It’s a win by 20 night.”

It turned out to be a prescient statement. (The Celtics won by 18.)

Before the game, there were a few nerves, to be sure. People worried what a second straight loss would mean, about the team having to return to Dallas deflated and without momentum.

Those concerns turned out to be moot, with a largely stress-free second half as the celtics’ lead ballooned to more than 20 points in the third quarter as the team never looked back.

The energy both inside and outside the arena reflected the new reality: the celtics would be champs once again. the chief question became not whether the celtics would win, but when would the championship parade of duck boats roll through the heart of the city?

Some fans traveled far to experience the delight of a boston title firsthand.

There was the pair of fans who flew seven hours from kristaps Porzingis’s homeland of latvia. there was the Newton native who drove from the west coast — it took him six days — to be here. others came from las Vegas, ireland, and the caribbean.

“It’s amazing, it’s home, it’s powerful being with the people,” said Matheus rosa, 21, who flew in from Los Angeles to watch the game at hurricane’s with his father and brother, Vinicius.

Vinicius Rsa, 26, of westborough, jumped up on his seat and formed his hands in a w, waving the gesture out at the crowd of fans jumping and screaming after Payton Pritchard sank a half-court buzzer-beater to end the first half.

“All the Celtics pride came out of my body right there,” he said.

Inside the Garden during the second half, some fans slammed their feet against the ground to the beat of the white Stripes’ Seven Nation army, while others gazed upon the court in silent focus.

Chick Knight said the crowd was wilder than any he’s seen, and he’s been coming to games for 42 years.”

“This is as loud as it’s been here, and i remember the old Garden,” said knight, 73. “it’s a little better structurally built so we’re not getting that vibration, but this is pretty cool.”

Knight traveled to Game 5 by boat from his hometown, Plymouth. He said the unconventional journey would be worth it in the end if the celtics won.

“We drove our boat up here so that we don’t have to drive home,” said Knight. “We are committed to a night of revelry.”

A feeling of celebration washed over the arena at the beginning of the fourth quarter, extending into the concourse for fans refueling on chicken tenders and fries.

Billy McInnis stood beside a trash can with a few friends, chugging the rest of his beer while they patted him on the back.

“This is family,” said McInnis, 54. “Everybody is so tight and it’s a community that comes together.”

McInnis said there’s nowhere he’d rather watch the celtics dominate than at the Garden. Monday was his wife’s birthday, which made the win all the better.

“There’s a lot of bad stuff in the world, but when you come to this place, it’s all love,” said Mcinnis, who had a green shamrock painted onto his left cheek.

“Boston is a championship city.”

Globe correspondents Maddie Khaw and Auzzy Byrdsell contributed to this report. 

Danny Mcdonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. 

Ava Berger can be reached at ava.berger@globe.com. 

Lila Hempel-edgers can be reached at lila.hempeledgers@globe.com.