Tacko Fall knew they were bound to happen.
The chants, begging for coach Brad Stevens to sub Fall into the game, started in the second quarter, picked up in the third, and persisted into the fourth. “We want Tacko,” fans shouted, with the 7-foot-5 rookie stationed on the bench for the first 39 minutes of action Sunday.
Then, early in the final quarter, the crowd erupted: Fall had checked into the game, making his TD Garden debut in Boston’s preseason opener against the Charlotte Hornets. On the sidelines, teammates Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum gestured for the applause to get louder.