It felt like old times in Boston this weekend. The annual Patriots Day holiday weekend had a throwback feel to it, even as we were reminded that we are living in the glory days of Boston sports.

Over at TD Garden, the Bruins and Celtics were beginning what each team hopes is a long playoff journey. It was just the second time in seven years that both teams had home advantage to begin the playoffs, making it a busy weekend for the Garden bull gang.

The arena was rocking throughout a bone-jarring Bruins win Saturday night and an up-tempo comeback win for the Celtics on Sunday afternoon. Even Larry Bird was in town, getting the biggest ovation of the day from the green-blooded crowd of 18,624.

Bird’s appearance on the Garden scoreboard came in the midst of a raucous 22-3 run in the third quarter that gave Boston control of the game. It was definitely an old-school win, an impressive defensive effort that limited the Pacers to just 74 points.

More importantly Kyrie Irving, the most polarizing Boston sports figure at the moment, came to life and reminded everyone that Playoff Kyrie is a force to be reckoned with. If he plays like this, the disappointment of an underachieving regular season will fade away like fog over Boston Harbor.

“I just really want to be aggressive and really be the head of the snake,” said Irving.

If the Celtics win was a throwback to Bird’s 1980s Celtics, the Bruins win Saturday night took us back to the ’70s. The Big, Bad Bruins returned for a Saturday night bout with the Maple Leafs, and provided a perfect response to a lackluster loss in Game 1.

There were 83 hits (according to the NHL stat trackers) in the Bruins’ 4-1 win over Toronto, and for the first time in awhile Boston had a Public Enemy to hate. Nazem Kadri continued to be the modern-day Ulf Samuelsson with dirty play and a cowardly two-handed cross check to the face of Jake DeBrusk.

Kadri loves to get under the skin of his opponents, but it was the Bruins who were the more physical team in Game 2. And it was mild-mannered head coach Bruce Cassidy who asked his team to hit the ice ready to hit the Leafs.

“We’re not a team that runs from a physical game,” Bruce Cassidy said after the game. “I think it brings out the best of us at times. You have to stay on the right side of things and make sure you score and defend and you’re doing all that. That was the ask.”

The Bruins answered with a physical presence from the drop of the puck. A day later, the Garden was rocking again as the Celtics took the parquet.

All of this was happening while the defending champs were working their way out of an early-season slump at Fenway Park. The Red Sox wrapped up a series with the Orioles on Monday morning as some 30,000 runners made their way into town in the 123rd running of the Boston Marathon.

All of this happening in the same weekend made it tough to get around Boston, but made it easy to remember why it is the greatest sports city in America. A city that is once again living up to its remarkable history.

Tom Caron is a studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

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