It is not the official schedule drop of the 2022-2023 Boston Celtics campaign, but it is something. In the midst of Brad Stevens attempting to fill out the roster, some pre-season contests have been released by fellow Eastern Conference teams with Boston as the opponent.
Via the social media of the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Charlotte Hornets, Joe Mazzulla’s squad will take on its Atlantic Division rival twice, and Steve Clifford’s team once before the regular season. Nick Nurse’s team travels to Boston to open up its preparation for meaningful basketball on October 8 at 6:00 p.m. EST. The green and white then visit Wells Fargo Center three days later for a 7:00 p.m. EST tip-off.
On July 28, the Hornets announced their pre-season schedule, revealing that the Boston Celtics will fly to North Carolina on October 19 for a 7:00 p.m. EST start time. The 17-time NBA champions are yet to put out the final pre-season fixture which is most likely going to be between October 12-16. The 2022-2023 NBA schedule dropped on August 17, leading many to believe that within the next few weeks, the C’s path to the playoffs will be revealed to the public.
a new season starting soon. 🎬
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) August 4, 2023
🎟️ & info: https://t.co/XfcorLC7zH | @Toyota pic.twitter.com/f9inP37fgC
Last season, Boston’s only two wins in the pre-season were against the team from the Queen City. Jaylen Brown led the team on both nights in the scoring department. The last time the 76ers clashed with the Celtics ahead of the regular season was in 2020 on a night when Jeff Teague netted 18 points in a loss by Stevens’ team. While it does not count for much, Boston has not had a winning pre-season since 2019 when it went 4-0 including that infamous 30-point display by Carsen Edwards.
It will be the first opportunity for Mazzulla and his new-look coaching staff to see an experiment with a roster that has more than one significant difference from the Eastern Conference Finals run of last year. Players like Jordan Walsh, and Oshae Brissett are interesting players that will be attempting to carve out more minutes with quality performances before real basketball begins.
In addition, it will be the first look everyone will see at the ultra-big starting lineup that features Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, the Jays, and the new starting point guard Derrick White. Stevens has added four new players to this roster built around the talents of Jayson Tatum and Brown including the shocking trade that brought in Porzingis in exchange for Marcus Smart.
While Boston Celtics fans wait for the regular season campaign to drop, three preseason dates have been confirmed
The green and white will be one of the last teams within the association to convey its preparation matches. The Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, and the Toronto Raptors are among numerous teams this week to post the four-game schedule.
With the goal of continuing to expand, and make the league more global, the league will host games in both Montreal and Vancouver.
The start of the regular season gets underway on October 24 while the in-season tournament beings on November 3.