The preseason is over, Celtics now gear up for big opening night test against Philadelphia 76ers

The Celtics have officially wrapped up their preseason. 

As practice wound down at the Auerbach Center on Monday, the focus turned to opening night against the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow. 

“Excited that it’s finally here … We had a really good training camp so, really happy with how everything went,” Al Horford said after practice. “It’s obviously a big game, they’re a really good team. But more than anything, for me, it’s just happy to play a game that matters. Regular season, let’s get this going. Opening Night at the Garden tomorrow night, honoring Bill Russell. There’s a lot of things that are good. It’s good to be a Celtic right now.”

The Celtics are still very much a work in progress. They showed flashes of really good basketball over the past few weeks, but also weaknesses that need to be addressed. They also have to work Luke Kornet, a key part of surviving the non-Robert Williams portion of the schedule, into the rotation. There's a lot to figure out, and now there's no more consequence-free time to do it.

“Wins and losses are obviously the end result, but the way I see it is I want to see how we’re looking, how we’re feeling on the court, how guys are getting along, how we’re starting to develop,” Horford said. “So I just want to be able to see Luke get out there and hoop with us and play with us, and different guys that have been in and out. I feel good about our group and what we have here so we just have to continue to build it day-by-day.”

Day-by-day is a great way to describe this Celtics team. Ever since the upheaval of the Ime Udoka situation, the team’s approach has been to drill down on the finer points of everything and put all the focus and energy on the details. 

“We’re not going to skip steps, and we have to treat every day with the utmost detail and the utmost approach in what we’re trying to accomplish,” Joe Mazzulla said. “So I don’t really consider us former Eastern Conference champs any more. It’s more about what we have to do now. We did a great job of that in practice today.”

One of the details the Celtics have to hammer out is rebounding, especially in smaller lineups. The Celtics are able to lean on their versatility for a lot, but some that leads to lineups without much size. That puts some onus on Jayson Tatum to play a more pure power forward role defensively so he can crash the boards.

“We just don’t have any room for error on that end,” Tatum said. “So, leakouts, shot goes up everybody gotta -- even if you boxing somebody out, you gotta do your job, somebody else gotta come grab the board. So just being aware of that, whatever lineup is playing. We’re not the tallest team right now without Rob playing. Everybody has to get in there and gang rebound.”

October basketball is often quickly forgotten. Teams are usually still in experimentation mode and we know from experience that how a team starts can be vastly different than how a team finishes. But the East is extraordinarily tough this year, and the Sixers are one of the teams competing with the Celtics for a chance at a championship. 

That means opening night, before a single game is played, looms as a potentially pivotal game in the future standings. When all is said and done, playoff seeding could come down to a tiebreaker. If the Celtics or Sixers get a more favorable matchup in April, this pre-Halloween game could be the difference. 

The Celtics, though, can’t take a big 30,000 foot view of this game. 

“It is a big game, it’s a big rival right off the bat. But it’s just that one game,” Horford said. “One game we have to focus on. But it’s a great opportunity that we have and we can’t look past it. It’s the game that we’ve gotta lock in on and really do a good job and try to win this game.”

At the same time, it’s not only a big game against a big rival, it’s opening night on national TV for a team eager to get back and finish the job they couldn't do in June. 

“It's like the first day of school tomorrow. I got my outfit laid out, it's just exciting,” Tatum said. “Time flies, it's already my sixth year so just trying to stay in the moment, enjoy it because it's a dream come true that I get to play basketball for a living so I'm ready to get back out there.”

OTHER PRACTICE NOTES

- Honoring Bill Russell

The Celtics will honor the late Bill Russell on opening night. In a release, the Celtics said “a pregame ceremony honoring Russell includes performances by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc and Boston’s Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola. The team is also presenting the Bill Russell Mentoring Award to an individual in the New England area who has contributed to the mentoring field in significant ways. The Boston Children’s Chorus (BCC) will perform at halftime. BCC was founded by Hubie Jones, a civic leader who for six decades has worked to address the social problems facing Boston’s underserved children and communities.

“Additionally, the Celtics will raffle off authentic 2022-23 City Edition jerseys autographed by current members of the roster, with proceeds benefiting MENTOR. Russell was a founding board member of MENTOR, a non-profit that aims to drive equity and close the mentoring gap to ensure that one day, all young people have access to quality mentoring relationships.”

At practice, Mazzulla said “I’m excited, I’m grateful to be a part of the Celtics organization and grateful for everything Bill Russell did for us on and off the floor. Just to be able to be part of that is amazing. So I can’t wait to just be a part of that atmosphere, and want to give back in any way we can.”

The City Edition jerseys were revealed today:

- The Celtics script on the front is borrowed from the signage on Bill Russell’s “Slade’s Bar & Grill.” 

- The 11 diamonds down both sides of uniform represent Russell’s 11 rings. The trim features the parquet floor pattern. 

- Russell’s number 6 is on the buckle, also surrounded by 11 diamonds.  

“It’s special,” Horford said. “He represents what the Celtics are all about and I’m just excited to be a part of the team, be able to honor him, represent him and continue to carry that legacy.”

- Roster Finalized

The Celtics are planning on filling all 15 of their roster spots heading into the regular season, giving Noah Vonleh and Justin Jackson their final two seats on the bench. 

“It's a blessing for sure,” Jackson said. “Definitely looking forward to obviously come into an already great team, an already great, historical organization, just learn as much as I can, and contribute in whatever ways I can possibly contribute.” 

Jackson had a stint with the Celtics last season during the league-wide COVID-19 outbreak, but he was quickly swept up into it as well, testing positive three days into a 10-day contract. But instead of pursuing other opportunities, he took a spot on the Celtics summer league roster and earned his place on the Celtics bench. 

“It was a lot of hard work that went into it. It definitely feels, I guess, gratifying to kind of see that hard work turn into somewhat of a reward,” he said. “That's one step and a huge blessing. Me and my family feel very, very blessed to be here. So for me now, it's just going forward and trying to get better each and every day.”

Jackson, the 15th overall pick in 2017, has bounced around a bit since then. He managed to pick up a championship ring along the way thanks to a stint with the Milwaukee Bucks, but he never could hang on to a job long-term. It’s something that Jackson says has put his faith to the test, but Mazzulla believes this could be a good fit. 

"I thought he did a great job,” Mazzulla said. “After Game 1 against Toronto, missing some shots, I thought he really responded well in the next game at Charlotte, making shots. He knows how to read the game. Fits into our offensive system very well and competes on the defensive end."

Defense is where Haverhill’s Vonleh is going to have to earn his minutes as well, especially the defensive boards. Obviously, Boston’s size is an issue without Robert Williams. Vonleh is looked at as a possible solution, but his contract is non-guaranteed until January. 

“:I was very excited, especially when they reached out to my agent and brought the idea of bringing me in early August,” Vonleh said. “I’m officially on the roster. But still got to make it to the trigger date on Jan. 7 so I’ve still got to stay locked in and take it day by day from here on out and even beyond that.”

One of the running themes this training camp is getting the bigs acclimated to working with the wings and guards. Basically, the big who wins the race in getting most comfortable the fastest could get some of Robert Williams minutes until he returns    

“Just coming in, doing my work, screening, getting guys open, playing with a lot of energy, rolling, putting a lot of pressure on the rim and just rebounding,” Vonleh said of his role. “I feel like I can be one of the best rebounders on the team so just got to get on that glass.”

- Mazzulla put to the test

Mazzulla has done a great job of keeping guys focused on the preparation for the regular season, but now it’s time for the team, and the coach, to start the real thing. 

For Mazzulla, the youngest coach in the league, this becomes a trial by fire. Managing practices and tinkering with preseason lineups is one thing. Navigating close games against fierce rivals when every win and loss is going to be heavily scrutinized is another. The coach, though, seems to be taking it all in stride while appreciating the moment.

“I’ve definitely had moments of gratitude. I’ve had moments of, like, ‘It’s special to be here.’ So you have to take those moments in,” he said. “But at the same time, I think you have to focus on the most important thing. At the beginning of the game, it’s 'How can we give back to Bill Russell and what he’s done for us?' and as soon as the game starts, it’s 'How can we execute?' So you’ll have some small moments here and there, but I think it’s more about what we’re trying to accomplish as a team and just making it about our guys and how good they are and where they can go.”

- Tatum Tossed

Tatum’s ejection from the preseason finale was a new experience for him, having never been thrown out of any kind of game in his life. And even though everyone can get a laugh out of the absurdity of that moment, Tatum did take one aspect of it seriously.

“It’s not that I was bothered by it but it was a preseason game in Montreal. They don’t have an NBA team,” Tatum said “There’s a lot of Celtics jerseys, a lot of guys who had No. 0 on that came to see me play. You don’t know the next time they’ll have that opportunity. I think that was the most unfortunate part of being thrown out. It was preseason so I didn’t get fined any money. I learned my lesson.”

So what does one do after getting tossed in the third quarter? 

“I got a workout in,” he said. “It was kinda like -- honestly it was funny. It happened that way. But, at that point, it was just like, ‘OK, let’s get my workout in,’ and get in the cold tub.”