Ten must-see stops on the Celtics’ upcoming revenge tour, initially broadcast on NBC Sports activities Boston
Successful an NBA championship was speculated to silence the doubters, however as a substitute it fueled them.
The Celtics could also be favored to repeat, however that does not imply they got a coronation. Fairly the opposite, July and August drew criticism from nearly each course, some very public (insert Olympics theme music), others closely implied (insert Knicks theme music).
With lower than two weeks till the opener, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co. should not have any scarcity of motivation. Let’s assessment the ten folks/opponents/locations that ought to deliver just a bit additional juice.
1. Steve Kerr
First match: November 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports activities Boston
This has little to do with the brand new look of the Warriors and all the pieces to do with their coach. He resided on the middle of the entire Celtics’ controversies, first for leaving Brown off Staff USA not as soon as however twice, then for benching Tatum for causes even he could not clarify , besides to say he is an fool.
Kerr’s warriors ought to put together to reap the whirlwind. Whereas the Celtics stay firmly of their collective prime, the Warriors are a workforce in transition. The incomparable Steph Curry turns 37 in March and enters her sixteenth season. Klay Thompson is gone, Draymond Inexperienced is diminished, and the Dubs will possible be a playmaking workforce at finest.
Keep in mind final season’s 52-point loss at Boston? It was nothing.
2. Kendrick Perkins’ home
Perk lives in Texas, proper? When the Celtics go to Houston, Brown ought to hijack the workforce bus and recreate his viral driving dunk of 2017even when it meant stealing the ball from one of many former Celtics huge man’s kids and breaking his backboard.
Excessive? I imply, have you ever heard Perk? Even these of us who make a dwelling tending scorching hibachi suppose we’re shedding it. Joe Mazzulla is a chook mind? No one is afraid of the Celtics? Is he fed up with Jayson Tatum?
Whereas it is easy to dismiss the fiery rhetoric that Perkins is giving ESPN what it desires, it is also true that he expresses his opinions fairly convincingly. Perhaps he actually means each phrase.
3. New York Knicks
First match: October 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET
New York seems to be the one workforce within the East clearly decided to counter what the Celtics do finest.
Undersized celebrity Jalen Brunson is fearless and hard, however he cannot beat Boston alone. So New York added Mikal Bridges, one of many league’s most achieved Tatum stoppers, then traded ball-dominant energy ahead Julius Randle to the Wolves for a greater offensive slot in Karl Anthony-Cities.
Whether or not this can be sufficient to eradicate the C’s is debatable – Mazzulla will certainly torture KAT on the perimeter – however that hasn’t stopped the punditocracy from declaring New York the most important menace within the East. The Celtics may have a chance to place that discuss to relaxation instantly, because the groups open the season in Boston on October 22.
4. Anthony Edwards
First match: November 24 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports activities Boston
Edwards talks like he is Michael Jordan, and whereas his bravado is oddly endearing, it is not but backed up by the workforce’s success. He solely received his first playoff collection this 12 months.
His most lately revealed trash discuss, from a just-released Netflix documentary, is certain to gentle a hearth underneath Tatum, if Edwards’ starring position on Staff USA hasn’t already completed so.
After the Wolves beat the Celtics in time beyond regulation in Minnesota final 12 months, Edwards was caught on video bragging about how he locked down Tatum defensively. He then talked about what units him aside. “You must have it otherwise you don’t,” Edwards mentioned. “And I just about received it.”
Oh yeah? Perhaps the Celtics may have one thing to say about that. Because it stood, when the 2 met in Boston for the rematch, Tatum misplaced 45.
5. Jimmy Butler
First match: December 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports activities Boston
The story of the Celtics not beating anybody en path to a title started in Miami, the place Butler missed the first-round collection and later mentioned the end result — Boston in 5 — would have been totally different if he had performs. That remark earned a uncommon STFU from Warmth president Pat Riley.
Assuming Butler is wholesome, the Celtics should not have any downside discovering the motivation to place their longtime tormentor in his place.
6. Nonconformists
First match: January 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET
It is wonderful what number of “For those who may make a workforce with only one participant at present?” » the questions begin with Luka Doncic. Did anybody watch the finale?
The Celtics abused Doncic on protection from the opening minutes of Sport 1 and by no means gave in. Final time I checked, there have been two ends of the courtroom, and Tatum is the celebrity bringing them each. Brown too.
Dallas can be excited for this one, as a result of shedding within the finals hurts. Not with the ability to do something will solely irritate the wound.
7. Nuggets
First match: January 7 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC Sports activities Boston
Of all of the asterisks hooked up to final 12 months’s title, “You Did not Have to Go By means of Denver,” is likely to be probably the most annoying.
It is not Boston’s fault that the Nuggets could not take down the Timberwolves after opening a 3-2 lead. And it is such a lazy counterfactual to state that Denver would have repeated when in reality the Nuggets had been a flawed two-man playoff workforce, and even the nice Nikola Jokić alongside working mate Jamal Murray could not carry them.
Past that, if we will criticize the Celtics’ path to a championship, we must always in all probability acknowledge Denver’s path a 12 months earlier: three play-in groups, plus the perpetually underperforming Suns. Talking of which…
8. Devin Booker
First match: March 26 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC Sports activities Boston
New proprietor Matt Ishbia tried to purchase a title by placing Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Booker collectively in a hastily-conceived superteam, and the outcome was a first-round sweep by the hands of the Wolves.
Phoenix may very effectively be dismantled in some unspecified time in the future this season in recognition of their failure, however let’s hope that does not occur earlier than the C’s come after them.
This one is usually in regards to the Olympics, the place Booker and Durant performed the starring roles whereas Tatum languished on the bench and Brown traveled the world. Booker is an efficient particular person expertise and a gifted scorer, however his groups have regressed over the previous 4 years, from a 2021 finals berth to final 12 months’s early exit.
There’s additionally the truth that Booker made an All-NBA workforce in opposition to Brown, who turned a two-time playoff MVP. Devin Booker vs. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown? Please.
9. Clippers
First match: November 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports activities Boston
Brown’s Olympics fiasco may have been averted if Staff USA had completed the best factor and given him the spot that initially belonged to Kawhi Leonard, a failed celebrity who predictably , withdrew even earlier than the beginning of the Video games.
There have been an entire bunch of gamers on this checklist that Brown may fairly declare to outperform, however the one with the sport most much like his is likely to be Leonard, a three-level scorer on one facet and a lockdown defender on the opposite .
What higher strategy to go the torch than to easily take it?
10. LeBron James
First match: January 23 at 10 p.m. ET
Do it for our guys Drew and Scal! James did not thoughts their feedback defending Russell Westbrook in the course of the Abu Dhabi collection with Denver, and he expressed his displeasure on the positioning previously often known as Twitter.
Scal took the higher hand on this one, and now the C’s ought to again him up!
