Boston Celtics defeat Cleveland Cavaliers, 90-85

The Celtics opened their 2008-09 season last night with a loud and loving celebration of basketball in Boston, a blowout that surely defined the term "hoopla."

Tears streaming down his face, captain Paul Pierce led his teammates in raising the Celtics' 17th championship banner to the rafters of TD Banknorth Garden, nestling the flag between the 1986 banner and the one bearing the franchise's retired numbers.

The packed house, which rose for the national anthem and re...

Source: Barbara Matson, Globe Staff Added by: Boston.com