Celtics in the NBA Finals: TD Garden to host watch parties for Games 3 + 4

Celtics mascot Lucky spins a ball with Mayor Michelle Wu during a safety press conference at the TD Garden ahead of the NBA Finals. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

As the Celtics and their surging fans get ready for a return to the NBA Finals, Game 1 tips off Thursday night, the team’s brass alongside state and city leaders announced the first-ever watch parties at the TD Garden during Games 3 and 4 when the Green are due in Dallas.

For the first time in Garden history, fans will be welcomed to the Causeway Street arena for watch parties featuring the same in-game entertainment festivities as live Celtics home games – concession stands, Lucky the Leprechaun, merchandise and more.

Fans looking to get in on the action will be able to purchase tickets when they go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. Roughly 1,800 tickets will be distributed to local charities, TD Garden President Glen Thornborough told the Herald on the parquet Tuesday.

Season ticket holders will get first dibs on access to the watch parties, with exclusive tickets going on sale Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

“What we have been amazed by through all of the years of playoffs is the fandom that goes on and the excitement of the fans,” Thornborough said. “We will open the building, and we’re going to assume it’s going to be a lot of people coming in to enjoy the opportunity.”

Tickets will cost $18 and parking at North Station Garage will also be $18, “to celebrate the Celtics on the road to their 18th championship,” officials said in a release.

Filling the Garden with fans when either the Celtics and Bruins are on the road during the Finals or Stanley Cup was a concept arena officials thought about for the past decade, Thornborough said.

Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs and Mayor Michelle Wu pushed the conversation, and Garden officials worked with the Celtics to ensure the feasibility of it all, Thornborugh said. He added the “mimicked version” will require the “same amount of work” as a live home game, with security, concessions, ushers and other aspects.

“We are not passing up any opportunities to come together and watch our Celtics do what they do best,” Wu said.

Game 3 will be played next Wednesday, with Game 4 next Friday. Fans attending the watch parties will be allowed through the doors at the Garden beginning at 7:30, an hour before tipoff in Dallas.

If the series goes to a Game 6, on June 20, there will not be a watch party at the Garden as the arena is already booked with rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Thornborough said.

Officials at City Hall unfurled a giant green banner from the building’s fifth-floor balcony, on the Congress Street side facing Faneuil Hall – evidence that Celtic pride is out in full force across Boston.

“We are a championship city, we know our sports, we follow and love our teams,” Wu said. “This Celtics team, in particular, is beloved in Boston because they are so involved off the court as well. … They deserve this, they’ve earned it, they are an incredible team.”

Wu noted how players make appearances in Boston Public Schools throughout the season and come out on “no notice whatsoever” to hang out in parks to watch city children play basketball during the summer.

“They really have dove in all the way with us with helping the community,” Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca with a nod to Wu and Gov. Maura Healey, “and our players every year log more time than any other NBA team out in the community. We are really proud of that fact.”

The playoff hub on Canal Street will return Thursday when the Celtics host the Mavericks for Game 1. Boston Police will close the road from 4 p.m. to midnight, and officials expect increased traffic and encourage fans to use public transportation.

Police Commissioner Michael Cox is advising fans who are going to and from the arena via rideshare to get dropped off and picked up away from Causeway Street due to the expected congestion. He is also urging caution when purchasing tickets off a secondary market.

“We have been here before,” Cox said, “and the expectation is we will act like it as a city. We know we have championship teams here, and we know we have championship fans.”

TD Garden Chef Jason Gorman, with Celtics legend and radio broadcaster Cedric Maxwell over his shoulder, showcased special eats and drinks that will be available all series long.

A couple offerings include a “Smoke the Mavs” cheese quesadilla with pico de gallo, jalapeno, monterey jack and “North Ender” stuffed chicken parm sandwich with pesto, fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes.

“Every round that the team goes further, we always try to elevate food quality as well as creativity,” Gorman said. “We really try to think outside of the box.”

Healey, a basketball enthusiast herself, donned a green Celtics t-shirt under a sports jacket for Tuesday’s appearance at the Garden, where she had a hard time containing her excitement.

“As a kid growing up here in New England, you grow up on Celtics lore and legend,” the governor said. “It’s part of our DNA. It’s part of who we are.”

Wyc Grousbeck, a member of the ownership group that bought the team in 2003, highlighted how this Finals will be the fourth he has been a part of, with the Celtics defeating the Lakers in 2008 before they fell to them two years later.

Boston then lost to Golden State in 2022.

“We are starving for Banner 18,” Grousbeck said. “These guys play connected and together. They play with Celtic pride, and I cannot wait to see what happens.”