The Boston Celtics claim their first opening-day win in New York since 1956, but can they make it 2-0 to start the season as they face their burgeoning rivals, the Miami Heat – who narrowly won their opening game against the Detroit Pistons? Lineups, predictions, injury reports, and more.
After a back-and-forth win over the New York Knicks, how might the Celtics line up for their first home game of the season?
The Celtics started with, what I expected, and still consider to be, their best starting five against the Knicks, and narrowly walked away with the win after a late comeback. Some players showed their class en masse, while others need to step up their game against the Heat on Friday night. There is absolutely still the need to build chemistry due to the new acquisitions, and form needs to be built for this team to be firing on all cylinders.
Both Jrue Holiday and Derrick White had solid defensive nights, stating a massive case as to why neither one should be dropped to the bench for their clash with the Heat. Holiday ended the game with three blocks, and a positive +/- of three, while White finished with two steals, one block, and a positive +/- of seven.
If one of them were to be dropped to the bench, it would be only for Al Horford to make a start, and there might just be a good reason why that could be needed against Miami.
Offensive rebounding was an issue for the Celtics in their opening game of the season, ending the game with 46 total rebounds, but only seven offensive rebounds, compared to the Knicks’ 17. Horford ended the game with the third most rebounds for the Celtics with seven and also had the most offensive rebounds with three. Will this make Mazzulla drop one of the guard duo and start Horford – who set a great example when being given a bench role against the Knicks? It’s definitely a possibility, but I think the starting lineup will be the same as it has been in the last three games regardless of the offens
