Despite ugly opening night, fans should not lose confidence in the Boston Celtics

In their 2019-20 season opener the Boston Celtics seemed to stumble out of the gates. Despite their less-than-stellar performance, fans should not lose confidence in their favorite NBA franchise.

To put it bluntly, last night’s Boston Celtics season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers did not play out like an ideal first game for a championship aspiring team. Overmatched and overpowered, the team looked like a work in progress, as opposed to a projected top-5 team in the Eastern Conference.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t the team’s defense, nor their center rotation, that was the main culprit for their demise. In fact, those may have been two of the lone bright spots that came out of the contest.

One could point to their lackluster shooting performance, as Boston only shot 37% from the field and a messily 27% from deep. Others may want to point to an underwhelming debut for Beantown’s newest franchise one guard, Kemba Walker who recorded 12 points, two assists and two boards on 22% shooting from the field and 17% from 3.

No matter which way you choose to look at this loss, one thing’s for certain: the Boston Celtics let you down. However, before you start to sulk and write off the 2019-20 season, just remember — it’s only game one.

Sure, Walker disappointed in his first game donning green & white, but expecting chemistry right from the get-go may sometimes be a fools errand. He is learning an entirely new system and is surrounded by players he’s spent no more than an offseason with.

While the point guard did play with fellow Celtics Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart during this summer’s FIBA World Cup tournament, keep in mind, both Smart and Tatum missed significant time due to injury, which kept the trio from reaching greater depths in their cohesiveness.

What you need to remember is the Boston Celtics were taking on one of the top defensive teams in the association. Whereas the 76ers can overwhelm with size, length and athleticism, the Celtics were always going to need to beat teams with superior strategies and schemes from Head Coach Brad Stevens — that does not come overnight or, in this case, in game one.

While we can go on and on about our displeasure for the team’s opening night folly, we mustn’t kid ourselves and say there were no positives to be taken away from the exhibition. As previously mentioned, both the defense and center play were two pluses for the team last night.

Enes Kanter — who got the surprising start at the five — did his thing on offense and on the boards,  scoring 12 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. However, it was his defense that should have caught your eye last night. Logging the most minutes against Joel Embiid, Kanter held the superstar to 17 points on a meager 36% shooting from the field.

Gordon Hayward showed signs of life, as he came away from the game with the highest point total (25 on 53% shooting) of any team. Tatum also managed to put forth a quality night, recording 21 points, 10 boards and two steals.

While it may not have been the most exciting game for fans to watch, we cannot stress this enough, it’s only game one. There are still 81 more games to go in the ever so long NBA season. As the days go by, chemistry and team execution is all but guaranteed to strengthen.

Fret not Boston Celtics fans; it’s always darkest before the dawn.