Celtics excited for opening tip
It has been a busy 41⁄2 months since the Celtics last played a meaningful game, getting bounced out of the Eastern Conference finals in five games by Cleveland.
The Cavaliers will once again be the opponent Tuesday when the Celtics raise the curtain on their 72nd season in Cleveland.
The Celtics roster was overhauled with just four players — Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier — back in green, while the primary reason the C’s were the No. 1 seed in the East, Isaiah Thomas, and Jae Crowder were traded to Cleveland with Kyrie Irving coming back.
“I feel like we took some tough steps this summer, steps you wouldn’t necessarily want to take. You don’t necessarily take 11 guys and change them out of a team that won the regular season in the East, but it was pretty clear we weren’t all the way where we wanted to be,” Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck said last night before the Shamrock Foundation’s Tip-Off Gala at the Westin Boston Waterfront. “So we wanted to take the steps so that we can contend legitimately for a championship at some point in the future.”
Even though he had comments Wednesday propping Boston ahead of Cleveland as a “real, live sports city,” Irving is not trying to put too much into his return to the banks of the Cuyahoga where he spent the first six NBA seasons, winning a title in 2016 and getting to the Finals two other times while serving as the top option for LeBron James.
“I’m just happy to just start NBA basketball back again,” Irving said. “It was a long summer coming off the Finals loss and what we went through and of course the trade happening. But now it’s time to move on to some more NBA basketball in a new uniform and get excited about that.”
It has all the makings for a memorable season opener.
“I’m unbelievably excited,” said Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuica. “I wish Isaiah was healthy and . . . wish him the best, but it’s great to go down and play Cleveland and get to see Jae Crowder again. I bet it will be one of the most watched games in the NBA to see these two rivals go after each other and we’ve had a long history of having to get through Cleveland to get to the Finals.”
After a perfect preseason that included a pair of wins over Charlotte and Philadelphia, Grousbeck has been impressed with the way all of the new pieces are falling into place.
“I think this feels like a classic team. I think these guys, the way they play, the way they think the game, the way they play unselfishly, their skill level, their character — these guys could have played in the ’50s, the ’60s, the ’70s or the ’80s — the great eras of the Celtics. I think they’d fit right in.
“This is a team built for Celtic Pride and hopefully for another banner someday.” The Celts waived Daniel Dixon, Jonathan Holmes, L.J. Peak and Andrew White.