4. Celtics @ Nuggets on January 7
This has the potential to be the best game of the Celtics’ 2024-25 season. Despite winning a championship last season, the Denver Nuggets are the only team that the Celtics failed to beat.
Boston played Denver twice in the regular season, and while both of them were extremely close, the Celtics lost each of them. Nikola Jokic proved to be too much for them to handle.
Championship or no championship, Mazzulla and every player on Boston’s roster should be circling this game on their schedule. Getting revenge on the Nuggets for beating them twice would be sweet.
5. Celtics @ Hawks on November 4
There aren’t many teams or players the Celtics need to get revenge against. They waltzed through the playoffs and won a championship in just 19 games.
But in the regular season, there were very few teams that the Celtics lost to twice. One of them was the Atlanta Hawks. They dropped two games to the Hawks late in the season, in large part due to a Dejounte Murray masterclass.
Mazzulla was so angry after losing to the Hawks that he tore his meniscus while doing jiu-jitsu. Even if no one else on the team cares about this game, Mazzulla will. And that’s enough. He’ll want to win this one badly.