Rivalry open to debate
Celts tiptoe past lingering animosity with hated 76ers
The Celtics were about to take the floor for their penultimate preseason practice, and the bright light of opening night shining in their eye was familiar.
Not that they wouldn’t be excited under any circumstances about starting the real games, but the fact the opposition is being provided by Philadelphia makes it even more interesting.
Like Jayson Tatum acknowledging there might be some bad blood dripping over from the Celts’ fivegame dispatching of the 76ers in last season’s second round.
“Yeah, definitely some animosity,” said Tatum. “I mean, we won, so they’re probably a little more fired up or angry than we are. But we’re excited to play. We had a lot of good matchups with them last year, a lot of great battles, especially in the playoffs. We’re excited, they’re excited. Everybody is going to be watching.”
A lot of teams are going to want a piece of the Celtics, particularly in light of the fact they’ve been anointed as favorites in the East. But Kyrie Irving isn’t necessarily buying that target thing.
“I mean, we’re hunting though,” he said. “That’s the whole thing. I think the emphasis on how great we are on paper and how great we possibly can look, we’re giving ourselves a little bit too much credit now. Now we have to actually go out and play and show it, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.
“So talking to the guys about being a great team as of yet, we’re not there. We still have a long way to go. We have the talent, but now we just have to kind of bridge that gap of just finding out the knowledge of the game and having fun with it — and being understanding of the challenges that we’ll face going through stuff like that.”
OK, Mr. Buzzkill, but it’s Philly, right? This is still going to be fun. At least that’s what it was for Tatum when he worked out with Joel Embiid this summer.
“I just kept reminding him that we almost swept them,” Tatum said. “We should have swept them, but we let them win one game ... No, we were joking around and getting better.”
As for whether the Celts have put even more space between themselves and the Sixers with Irving and Gordon Hayward back, Tatum said, “Nah. I mean, it’s the first game of the season. They got some new players; we got our players back. It’s going to take some time for us to look as well as we did in the playoffs. We’re not going to be perfect, but as long as our effort is there, we should be fine.”
Meanwhile, Terry Rozier isn’t reading too much into the budding rivalry.
“I mean, it’s going to be two teams getting after it. Whether it’s biting, scratching, no matter what you have to do to win, that’s what it’s going to be. I think we’re looking forward to it. I know I am.
“I like the stuff that Embiid talks. It’s good for basketball. It’ll get you hyped up, so you know, if they like it, we love it. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re ready for it.”
But not entirely ready to be what they hope, according to the coach.
“You’re going to make mistakes,” said Brad Stevens. “It’s the early part of the season. You’re going to make mistakes in the later part of the season. It’s do you move on to the next play? Do you play with great intensity? Do you play with multiple efforts all the way through? Do you share the ball? Do you do the little things that help teammates have success?
“We’ll be able to get a lot of information this week as we have somewhat thus far. But I think when the regular season kicks in, it’s obviously a little bit different.”
What’s Irving looking at for early indicators?
“Just our attitude and effort,” he said. “Obviously we’ll be able to showcase our talent, but how smart we are . . . . The first 10 games always you see who’s really been hunting this season and getting ready. So I’m prepared and I know our guys will be prepared as well.
“It’s a long season. Let’s just get through game one before we start getting too overzealous. I think that in terms of the intent to learn is always going to be there for all of us. I think we understand that it’s going to be a day-to-day process for all of us.”
As regards those expectations, Tatum said, “This year? Oh, man, everybody wants to win a championship. We’re no different. I don’t feel any differently, but I’m not looking ahead. We’ve got to get a lot better to compete for a championship.”
Ah, but Philly, Kyrie. What about Philly? Any thoughts?
“I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is destroy. That’s all I know. So once we go out there that’s the only thing.”
Not exactly Embiid-level trolling, but it’ll certainly do.