Fox Sports Net New England celebrated an on-air milestone Monday night, with its 1,000th Boston Celtics National Basketball Association cablecast called by the same announcing team.
The Celtics team, with Mike Gorman on play-by-play and former Celtics player/coach Tommy Heinsohn handling analysis, is believed to be the nation's longest-running TV pairing of its kind.
The relationship started in 1981, when the channel was known as Prism/New England and independently owned. Cablevision Systems Corp. gained control of the regional service several years later and turned it into SportsChannel New England. Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings Inc. subsidiary ultimately assumed the network's management.
The Gorman/Heinsohn team opened on a victorious note when the Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 111-94. Then, 21 years later, Boston posted a win for game No. 1,000 by almost the exact score: Star Paul Pierce contributed 35 points to a 112-95 pasting of the Utah Jazz.
Previously, away from FSN duties, Gorman has handled syndicated Big East Conference college basketball while Heinsohn was the lead NBA analyst on CBS.
