Last season, the Denver Nuggets won their first ever title with the amazing Jokic and Murray duo. They defeated the Miami Heat in a 4-1 game series, taking the title in game five. The Heat were the Eastern Conference champions after defeating the Boston Celtics in game seven. This was a historic turning point in which the Celtics turned a 3-0 advantage for the Heat to a tie. Nevertheless, Miami emerged victorious, leaving many Celtics fans disappointed.
The new season is here at last and Boston is hungry for a comeback year. With the most expensive contract in the history of the NBA, Jaylen Brown has been expected to perform even better this season, and he definitely delivered in the first preseason game against the Sixers. Payton Pritchard also got a contract extension and in all preseason games until now, he has proven how much his training paid off. He delivered some amazing plays (he actually made some Curry level 3’s) and was considered the MVP in two of those matches. Based on everything seen so far, Pritchard is set to be the sixth man this season for the Celtics.
On the starting five side, two players got traded to the Celtics and they have been great in the preseason so far. Kristaps Porzingis, a 7’3” player from Latvia who was formerly with the Washington Wizards, is there to fill the defensive hole from the Celtics last season. In the two games he played this preseason, he had some impressive defensive highlights, some nice assists and a few dunks. Jrue Holiday, a seasoned player who was previously on the Milwaukee Bucks, but came to Boston via a second trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, is a great addition to the team and proved in this preseason that he can indeed deliver.
The other players in the expected starting five are Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. All three were phenomenal last year and have worked extremely hard this past off-season. Brown is in better shape than ever, has the most promising contract a player could have and played fantastic during the first game against Philly. White is still a very solid player and Tatum has also practiced a lot. The Tatum-Brown duo is one of the most anticipated this year.
The strongest teams in this season’s Eastern Conference are the Celtics and the Bucks. The Eastern Conference is less favored than the Western Conference (which has more preferred teams like the Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets, Mavericks, etc.), but it is the NBA, so anything can happen. If the Celtics manage to win this championship, they will break the tie with the Lakers and become the team with the most titles in the history of the league.
Opening night for the Celtics is on October 25th against the Knicks and the first home game will be on the 27th against Miami. Celtics fans are buzzing to see if Boston will win the first matchup and then have an opportunity to prove how much their training paid off by beating Miami at home.
There are many great teams out there and the Celtics are just one of them. This year, they have a great shot at winning and there will be some very exciting matchups. If you are a basketball fan, make sure to tune in for many incredible matchups (especially if you are a Celtics fan)!
