Pitino and Celtics Get a New York Welcome

Welcome back to the NBA, Rick Pitino.

Coaching his young Boston Celtics on the road for the first time this season, Pitino was reminded of the rigors of having to match up with the world’s best players on a nightly basis.

“We have a lot of things to work on,” Pitino said Tuesday night after the Celtics were thrashed by the Knicks, 102-70.

Patrick Ewing scored 26 points and former Celtic Chris Mills had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Knicks defeated Boston for the 20th consecutive time in the regular season. New York has not lost to the Celtics since 1993.

“I remember the days when they were so dominant over us,” Ewing said. “And it’s nice that the tide has turned.”

Boston’s point total was its lowest against New York since the 24-second shot clock was introduced in 1954. The Knicks outrebounded the Celtics, 54-29.

“They created a frenetic pace, very up-tempo,” Ewing said. “They like to press and trap a lot to create havoc and turnovers. . . . Tonight we did a good job on both ends of the court.”

Pitino, who coached New York from 1987-89, was making his first appearance at Madison Square Garden as an NBA coach since he quit the Knicks.

With 79 games remaining, he realizes patience is his biggest ally if he is to get the Celtics back among the league’s elite teams.

“This is the same experience I went through with the Knicks,” he said. “But that team had more talent. With New York, we opened 1-7. I didn’t handle that as well as I will with this Boston team.”

Toronto 104, Golden State 86--Doug Christie had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists and also played excellent defense against Latrell Sprewell as the Raptors won their home opener.

Sprewell, who averaged 35 points in the Warriors’ first two games, was held to 12 points.

On a less satisfying note for Toronto, the Raptors drew 33,306 for their home debut in 1995; last season that figure dropped to 28,457, and only 16,624 showed up Tuesday.

Dallas 92, Vancouver 87--The Mavericks are off to the second-best start in franchise history after defeating the Grizzlies for their third consecutive victory.

Michael Finley scored 29 points and Dennis Scott had 28 in Dallas’ home opener. The Mavericks’ 3-0 start is topped only by a 4-0 streak to open the 1995-96 season.

“A lot of people thought we couldn’t do what we’ve done,” Finley said. “We’ve surprised a lot of people, including ourselves a little bit. This could be a good season.”

The Mavericks won only 24 games last season.

“We were nervous and jittery in the first half, but we finally settled down,” Dallas Coach Jim Cleamons said. “Once we got the jitters out of our system, we were OK. Now we’ll see if we can make it four in a row.”

Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 28 points for Vancouver, whose record in Texas road games fell to 3-13.

Washington 120, Denver 96--Wizard Coach Bernie Bickerstaff was loudly booed during player introductions by the crowd of 8,104 at Denver. After which he set out to give the fans more reason to boo as the Nuggets were easily beaten.

It was Bickerstaff’s first regular season appearance in Denver since he stepped down as Nugget coach 13 games into last season.

Washington’s Juwan Howard had 29 points and 13 rebounds and Rod Strickland scored 13 points and reached 5,000 career assists with 10.

Eric Williams scored 26 points and Danny Fortson 22 for the winless Nuggets, whose losing streak at home reached seven, dating to last season.

Phoenix 106, Utah 84--Kevin Johnson scored 23 points, including 16-of-16 foul shooting, as the unbeaten Suns opened leads of up to 25 points in the third quarter and coasted past the Jazz at Phoenix.

Karl Malone had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz but he rarely resembled his dominating self without injured point guard John Stockton, his partner in Utah’s two-man game.

Seattle 118, Houston 94--Gary Payton had 27 points and 12 assists at Seattle as the SuperSonics held Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in check to defeat the Rockets.

Olajuwon was held to eight points and four rebounds, and Drexler finished with nine points.

Milwaukee 110, Orlando 76--Ray Allen scored 20 points and Terrell Brandon had 15 as the high-scoring guard tandem led the Bucks over the Magic at Milwaukee.

The Magic failed to make a three-point shot, ending their NBA-record streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer at 316, since Dec. 7, 1993.

“This is the best Milwaukee team I’ve seen in many a year,” Orlando Coach Chuck Daly said. “They executed. They played hard. They defended.

“They’re really a tough team, a physical team. That’s an impressive night. And we put up no resistance.”

Anfernee Hardaway led Orlando with 16 points.

Atlanta 82, Detroit 71--Steve Smith scored 15 of his 27 points in the third quarter at Atlanta as the Hawks remained unbeaten with a victory over the previously unbeaten Pistons.

The Hawks are 3-0 for the first time since 1990. The Pistons matched their franchise low for points in a game, tying the mark set against the Hawks on Jan. 5, 1988.

Cleveland 80, Indiana 77--Shawn Kemp scored 18 points and rookie Brevin Knight made a jumper with 4.9 seconds left as the Cavaliers defeated the Pacers for their first victory in a home opener since 1991.

Portland 122, Minnesota 105--Kenny Anderson scored 24 points and Arvydas Sabonis 23 as the Trail Blazers rolled over the Timberwolves at Portland, Ore.

Isaiah Rider, in his season debut after being suspended the first two games by the NBA for his off-court troubles, scored 20.

Rider was fined $1,000 by the Trail Blazers for missing a practice after a two-game suspension.

Anderson’s six three-pointers, in seven attempts, were one short of the Portland record.

Tom Gugliotta and Stephon Marbury scored 27 apiece for Minnesota.