BOSTON – The Boston Celtics wrapped up their final practice of the preseason Monday afternoon with their collective eagerness seeming higher than it has been in years heading into a season-opener.
After building together over the past month-plus at Auerbach Center, the team will finally get to put their product on the court Wednesday night inside Madison Square Garden. In the meantime, Jaylen Brown and the rest of the crew are counting down the minutes until tip-off against the New York Knicks.
“The excitement level is high,” Brown said after practice. “We get to start the journey off, kick the season off. We’ve been working hard in preseason. Probably one of the best preseasons I’ve been a part of, so now it’s time to perform. Now it’s time to take the work to actual real life and I’m excited.”
What made Brown’s eighth Celtics preseason – the most of any active member of the team – so special was the clarity and cohesiveness he sensed from the group. Everybody seems to have bought into the right mindset on and off the court from the coaches to the players.
“We’ve been real clear in our roles,” Brown said. “We’re clear what we want to get accomplished. We’re clear in what actions we want to get into, late game, 3-for-2 situations, 2-for-1 situations. We’ve been able to really establish exactly what we want to do. It’s been really good coaching this year.”
The All-NBA wing elaborated further on their sense of clarity: “I think being able to be on the same page is everything in this league, so building that chemistry, having that clarity, having that understanding, knowing where everyone is supposed to be, knowing what we want to get into. When you get into those moments, late game, fourth quarter, those are the moments you start to see the work and that clarity come to life.”
Fans got a glimpse of their work during the team’s five preseason exhibitions, of which Boston won four. The C’s really seemed to pick up steam in the last three games, each of which they won by double-digits.
“We’re ready to play,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “Training camp is a process. We’ve gotten everything out of our guys that we needed to from a training camp perspective, philosophies, and things we want to get done.”
For as much excitement as there is, Mazzulla also wants his guys to stay level-headed, knowing that there’s a long season ahead of them and they’re just beginning their work.
“It’s that balance of everybody wants to play really well on Opening Night,” Mazzulla said, “so doing that, and at the same time it’s a long year and we have to just continue to chop away at it every day.”
Boston already played New York twice during the preseason, splitting the matchups 1-1. It’s worth noting that both teams’ losses came while playing their backups against the other team’s starters; however, the C’s know enough about their Atlantic Division rival to know what type of battle to expect Wednesday night.
“I think there's stuff that you just know a [Tom Thibodeau-coached] team is going to do,” Mazzulla said. “They're gonna bring it on defense and you know they're gonna execute well offensively. Those guys that they have do a great job of getting their spots, do a great job of creating contact, and we got to be disciplined in our defense, we’ve got to defend, and we’ve got to be able to execute at the other end.”
Just like they need to do for every other game. But for the first one, there are “a little bit” of butterflies in the stomach, says Brown. This one holds a little extra meaning.
“ The first game is always the most anticipated,” Brown said. “It’s like, new season, new energy. We definitely want to leave with a win.”