Chris
Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers – Wells Fargo Center – 8 pm (ET)
The Boston Celtics narrowly walked away with the victory against the Philadelphia 76ers in their opening preseason game after a strong showing in the fourth quarter. The following night, the Celtics heavily rotated their lineup, leaving all the big names with a night off to rest, resulting in a close loss against the Knicks – but the team’s depth absolutely proved its worth in the process.
Can the Celtics go 2-0 against their Eastern rivals, and 2-1 overall as we reach the midway point of their preseason campaign?
How did the Boston Celtics do in their opening two preseason games – and will we see a change in the lineup?
The headline so far during these first two preseason games has been the freshly-extended Payton Pritchard, who in his first two games has put up an incredible 47 points, five rebounds, nine assists, and four steals – all while maintaining a consistent 55% from the field, 45% from beyond the arc and 100% from the free throw line. Will Pritchard get starting minutes? And can he maintain this stellar form?
It’s hard to know if Pritchard will get the start against the Sixers because, even though he made a start in their Monday night clash with the Knicks, and has performed exceptionally overall, all the usual names got a rest during that game and I’m expecting most of those names make the starting five.
Jrue Holiday didn’t make a start in either of the preseason games so far but got 21 minutes off the bench against the Sixers in their first preseason clash. Since Holiday didn’t start against Philadelphia and was one of the players who got a rest on Monday night’s clash with the Knicks, I don’t expect his name to be left out of the starting five this time around — and I predict he will get the start ahead of Pritchard.
I think it’s time to really see what Holiday can do in Beantown Green. We got glimpses of what Holiday can do on the court and I know I’m not the only one who is dying to see more.
In our second preseason game, we faced the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden with a heavily rotated side. I predicted a few changes to the lineup but didn’t anticipate the extent of the rotation.
Even with such a heavily rotated side, the Celtics made life difficult for the Knicks, but eventually lost the game 114-107. Even though the game ended with a Knicks victory, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game, including the talks of “Celtics don’t have depth” being debunked.
