Celtics pay tribute to Auerbach’s legacy

A bouquet of green roses topped by a single, unlit cigar sat in Red Auerbach’s empty seat at the new Boston Garden on Wednesday night as the Celtics opened the season without their patriarch for the first time in half a century.

A pregame tribute showed video of Auerbach – accompanied by Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” – running his teams through drills, berating officials, barking out plays and settling back in his chair to light up a victory cigar.

There was, of course, ample footage of players carrying him off the court on their shoulders, hugging him in a postgame celebration and holding up one of the NBA-record 16 championship trophies the franchise won under his watch.

Bagpipers skirled “Amazing Grace,” and some of the 56 years’ worth of team pictures – with Auerbach in the middle, holding the ball – circled the arena on the message board.

“It was a great honor for me to even know Red,” Celtics captain Paul Pierce told the fans from midcourt, surrounded by past greats such as Bob Cousy, John Havlicek and Robert Parish. “As we move forward we’ve got to continue to celebrate his legacy.”

Then, Pierce told the crowd there was one thing that Auerbach liked best.

“Winning,” came the shout from the bleachers.

“Even better than winning,” Pierce answered, Auerbach liked the chant of “Let’s go, Celtics!”

And the crowd responded.

Around the league

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker said he hopes to play in the season opener at the Dallas Mavericks tonight after spraining his right ankle in practice on Monday. … The Sacramento Kings unexpectedly activated guard Mike Bibby for Wednesday night’s opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bibby was expected to miss the first two weeks of the season after injuring his right thumb in an exhibition game. … Charlotte Bobcats starting center Primoz Brezec will miss the first two weeks of the season because of exhaustion and dehydration.