New year, same Celtics.
Yes, it’s only preseason, but the Celtics are picking up right where they left off. The team that set NBA records a season ago with 17 wins by 25 points and 10 by 30 or more took care of business in Abu Dhabi, sweeping the Nuggets with a dominant 130-104 blowout on Sunday.
“I think we’re headed in the right direction,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame. “I think we got off to a good start in training camp. I think we approached this trip the proper way, and we have an open mind, understanding that we have to get better.”
The score isn’t the story. It’s the process of which they played and the individual efforts that made this team so special a season ago.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown set the tone from the jump with 19 combined points in the first quarter and 30 in the first half. They finished the game with 38 points on 14-of-30 (46.6%) shooting, seven assists, and a +14 in 23 minutes.
Derrick White and Jrue Holiday brought their signature hustle, grabbing six rebounds in the first five minutes. They both did a little bit of everything, which is part of what makes the duo so special. White stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, five rebounds, a team-high six assists, and a steal, while Holiday added seven points, three rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Off the bench, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser powered a dominant 42-16 third quarter that put the game out of reach. The duo combined for 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting (78.5%) and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc (83.3%), adding 10 rebounds and five assists. Hauser grabbed eight rebounds in that quarter alone, matching Denver’s team total, while Pritchard poured in 14 points—just shy of Denver’s 16-point output for the frame.
And with Al Horford sitting out as he continues to slowly ramp up for the season, Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, and Neemias Queta each were impactful and plenty comfortable playing with the starters.
All these individual efforts added up to a 26-point win, with the Celtics pouring in 130 points on 50.5% shooting, committing just eight turnovers, and dishing out 33 assists. That kind of offensive efficiency is rare in preseason, where teams are usually still knocking off the rust. It speaks to the level of talent and chemistry on this Celtics squad, especially with 15 of the 17 players returning from last year’s championship run.
Let’s not overreact to a preseason win—especially with Denver resting its starters in the second half—but Celtics fans should be encouraged by what they saw in Abu Dhabi. There’s no sign of a championship hangover, and everything looks very similar to what it did last year. From the top down, guys are competing like it’s a regular season game, setting the tone for how they want to play when the games start to count.
It wasn’t always perfect – which is to be expected – but the intent is there.
“You put some stock into it,” Mazzulla said on the preseason play following Sunday’s win. “I don’t really look at the score. I look more at the process of what we’re doing – Preseason is an opportunity to kind of commit to the fundamentals, and compete, which I think we’ve done both of those. And then just iron out the things that we know lead to winning and losing.”
The Celtics know the challenges ahead. Since the Golden State Warriors repeated in 2017 and 2018, six different teams have claimed the title, with none of the previous champions advancing past the Conference Semifinals. They understand that, despite their rare level of continuity and last season’s success, cutting corners isn’t an option.
Through training camp back in Boston and two games in Abu Dhabi, the Celtics are clearly approaching the season the right way.
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