The Boston Celtics begin the season at home against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
Boston went 61-21 overall, 39-13 in Eastern Conference action and 28-13 at home during the 2024-25 season. They lost to New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Celtics averaged 15.6 points off of turnovers, 14.2 second-chance points and 30.4 bench points last season.
Philadelphia went 24-58 overall and 15-37 in Eastern Conference action during the 2024-25 season. The 76ers allowed opponents to score 115.8 points per game and shoot 48.8% from the field last season.
INJURIES:
Celtics: Jayson Tatum: out (achilles).
76ers: Paul George: day to day (knee), Jared McCain: out (thumb).
The Celtics are going all around Boston and they’re surprising fans with tickets and swag leading up to opening night! Follow NBC10 Boston’s The Hub Today:
What to expect from the Boston Celtics
The Celtics aren’t a favorite to emerge from the East coming off a failed NBA title defense last season that ended with a conference semifinals loss to New York. It also included the loss of star Jayson Tatum to a ruptured right Achilles tendon, an injury that will sideline him for the foreseeable future.
That was the start of an offseason full of change that included Boston trading both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in salary dumps to get under the second luxury tax apron.
Also gone are veteran Al Horford and fellow big man Luke Kornet. It’s left the leadership reins in the hands of All-Star Jaylen Brown, who along with Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, will anchor a youthful roster that president of basketball operation Brad Stevens and coach Joe Mazzulla believe can keep the Celtics competitive while Tatum is on the mend.
Strengths and weaknesses
While Boston lost two starters and a chunk of the veteran core that contributed to the 2024 championship team, they still want to play speedy on offense and cause chaos on defense for opponents. Brown will be the primary scoring threat with Tatum sidelined, but he has capable contributors alongside him in White and Pritchard.
They will also be bringing several new faces into the rotation. Yet it’s unclear how quickly Mazzulla can get newcomers like Simons and Boucher integrated into his system. That will go a long way in dictating how successful this group will be. The same is true on the defensive end, where Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman will need to help protect the rim and increase their rebounding output with Horford and Porzingis gone.
Players to movie
It starts with Brown, who will get his first true chance since entering the league to be the primary option for his team. He’s coming off a minor procedure on his knee this offseason, which is something to movie as his minutes will naturally increase. It’s also a big year for Pritchard, coming off earning NBA Sixth Man of the Year honors last season. He’ll get a lot more opportunities on offense and also will need to increase his scoring output for this team to remain relevant in the East.
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