Celtics and Knicks Honor Boston Community in Pregame Tribute

The sports world continues to pay tribute to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, this time with a tribute before the first game of the series between the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics.

New York welcomed the Boston Fire Department color guard into Madison Square Garden before both Paul Pierce and Carmelo Anthony addressed the crowd and the people watching at home prior to the national anthem.

Anthony, a native New Yorker, and Pierce, a transplanted Bostonian, gave us a quick yet telling look at the camaraderie between the two rival cities.

The Celtics have yet to have their first game back in TD Garden, but the Toronto Raptors gave them a nice moment of silence and played "Sweet Caroline" before their game a few days back:

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Vs #Celtics, #Raptors played 'Sweet Caroline' & held pregame ceremony b.globe.com/17rs1l2 via @baxterholmes twitter.com/BGlobeSports/s…

— Boston Globe Sports (@BGlobeSports) April 18, 2013"

Of course, we watched as the Red Sox made their way back to Boston following the Monday explosions, with David Ortiz dropping the most appropriate F-bomb in ages on Saturday:

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What a day for Big Papi. Best F-bomb in ages and 2 for 3 in his return, including an RBI single to tie it at 1 in the sixth inning.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 20, 2013"

We also had the crowd singing the national anthem before the Bruins' first game back in Boston against the Buffalo Sabres.

With everything that has happened in the past week, the sports world continues to give us a reason to come together and rally around a city in support, even if it is just for a few minutes before a game.