The NBA was the last major US professional sport I hadn't seen in person, and that's now been crossed off the list. My top-tier chum who literally went to the school of hospitality (and is a giant Celtics fan to boot) and I wandered over to the Garden a few Sundays ago for the Warriors game. If this review were just about the quality of the game/opponent, this would have been a little rough - the Warriors were wrapping up a slog of an East Coast road trip, and it looked it. But this was a genuinely entertaining experience, which was boosted by decent seats and the ability to understand and see what was happening on the court.

I was enormously impressed by the arena/surrounding area - as a direct comp, I get that MSG is a legendary place in the annals of sports, but boy is the area surrounding it and the building itself poochy. That neighborhood by Herald Square/Penn Station is one of my least favorites, and while I don't think the TD Garden neighborhood is necessarily the best one in Boston, it was pretty clean with a lot of new, spiffy restaurants. It kind of reminded me of the first time (yes, this is going to be another NYC reference) I visited Citi Field after going to my beloved blue and orange eyesore Shea Stadium for years - an unequivocal upgrade in so many ways, though Shea lives on in our hearts.

It was very easy to get into the arena and ultimately our seats. I don't know if our timing was a big part of that - I wanted to get there about an hour before tip so I could see Steph Curry's warmup routine - but we were barely in line at security; I'd say it took about two or three minutes, if that. All of the employees that we encountered during this process were very friendly and professional. So were the fans, incidentally - one fellow offered to take our picture (we weren't actively seeking a photographer at the time) and it ended up being one of the better shots of the weekend. We interacted with a few other fans throughout the course of the game and immediately afterwards - everyone had potty mouths but was super nice, which to me is dictionary definition Boston.

In terms of the in-game experience, it's hard to really knock anything. It was a hotly anticipated rematch of the 2022 Finals featuring at least four Hall of Famers, and it was super cool to see all of them on the court at the same time during warmups; there was an understandable buzz in the air that I'm sure you don't get when the Wizards wander into town. We had seats fairly close to the court, which allowed for a certain level of intimacy with the game that you're not going to get sitting in the upper levels. During the commercial breaks, there was usually some type of entertainment or contest to keep patrons occupied (which is pretty much the case at any arena, to be fair). My chum was approached by the event staff prior to tipoff about participating in one of the games - again, a pretty common one, where they have an animated shell game on the jumbotron and you have to confirm which shell (or in this case a Celtics hat I think) has the basketball underneath it. She won, and I am now the proud owner of a gynormous green personal injury firm t-shirt. Woo.

The concession offerings were pretty decent in terms of variety; we've come a long way from the 90s when you were lucky to get some cotton candy or soft-serve ice cream in a plastic baseball cap. A rare negative of the experience was the pizza I had from Sal's Pizza, which I thought actually looked pretty appetizing but which was tasteless and a waste of calories and money (I think close to $15 for a super-size slice). The two of us ended up consuming the whole thing, but only because we're animals - it had nothing to do with the quality of the food. If I could do it over again, I'd sample one of the intriguing gastropubs nearby before or after the game and not bother with the arena options.

This was an awesome afternoon; I have a greener wardrobe, some very cool memories and I now know how to yell profanities in a Boston accent - it's all about the "ah" sound.