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Inside The Celtics

Five Things To Watch For in Boston Celtics Preseason Opener vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

The Celtics take on the Cavs at 7 p.m., finally getting a chance to put the stuff they've practiced onto the floor against a real opponent.
John Karalis|
Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Mike Conley practice at The Citadel in Charleston, SC, with Joe Mazzulla and Paul George in the background.
Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Mike Conley practice at The Citadel in Charleston, SC, with Joe Mazzulla and Paul George in the background. | John Karalis

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Boston Celtics

The morning dew is hardening to a frost. The chill pulls the green from foliage, turning canopies into kaleidoscopes before the wind strips the branches bare. Trails of mist tag along with the words that escape our mouths, with precious few hours of sunlight left to watch them lift and dissipate. 

October is a month of change. It’s getting cold and dark, but one thing makes it all better. 

Basketball is back. 

The Boston Celtics take the floor tonight in Cleveland, facing an opponent instead of a contingent of teammates who flipped their jerseys to a different color. Here’s what I’m looking for in the first preseason games. 

The First Five

I don’t want to read too deep into it, but the Celtics have just spent a couple of weeks working on things in training camp. One would assume they want to see it in practice right away. 

And I just want to emphasize that this isn’t about figuring out who the starters are as much as it is trying to determine the rotations. The Celtics have depth, but it’s depth with some specific talents. If they can get the rotations right, then they’ll have a strong 48 minutes of combinations on the floor. 

Side note: I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m suddenly not sure Paul George is starting. Here scrimmage footage from the Celtics, and George is in the green jersey playing against Jayson Tatum and the black team. 

Maybe it’s a ploy. Maybe it’s how George learns what the starters are trying to do. I’m fully ready and willing to say it was a lot of nothing. But I know the Celtics do things intentionally, and so I’m wondering what the intent here is. 

How Mitchell Robinson Is Used

I want to see how often the Celtics put Mitchell Robinson in different positions than he might be used to and how much they try to expand his game. The Celtics love to use their bigs to run hand-offs, and Robinson has obviously run plenty of them in his life, but will he be doing any of this kind of stuff? 

There's room to grow him beyond the simple handoffs and high-pick-and-rolls. 

What Shots Derrick White Gets

This ties into the Robinson thing because I think the Robinson short-roll/kick to the wing is going to be something that gets White going. Can Derrick White get this kind of pass from Robinson on a regular basis?

This is where White will get his best shots and opportunities to score. And even a play like this can incorporate the last point because Robinson would have to be aware of the drive and that could turn into a pick-and-roll situation where he gets the pass back. 

Either way, that kind of play has to be how White gets going early this season. 

How Baylor Scheierman Looks

I don’t want to put any pressure on Baylor Scheierman too soon, but I do want to see how his processing of the game has grown and what he does beyond the hustle plays and shooting. We might not see much of it in this game, but it’s something I’m looking for in general this preseason and early in the regular season.

Of course I want to see him crash. Obviously I want to see him hit corner threes. But most of all, I want to see him read the defender closing out on him, put the ball on the floor, and then make a second read for an assist or a secondary assist. 

Jayson Tatum being 100%

I know he’s fine. I know there isn’t much to say about the Achilles anymore. But I just want to see it. That's all. I just want to see JT be JT. 

The Celtics and Cavs tip off at 7 p.m.

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John Karalis
JOHN KARALIS

John Karalis is a 20-year veteran of Celtics coverage and was nominated for NSMA's Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year in 2019. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016 and has written two books about the Celtics. John was born and raised in Pawtucket, RI. He graduated from Shea High School in Pawtucket, where he played football, soccer, baseball, and basketball and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. John graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of their Gold Key Honor Society. He was a four-year starter and two-year captain of the Men’s Basketball team, and remains one of the school's top all-time scorers, and Emerson's all-time leading rebounder. He is also the first Emerson College player to play professional basketball (Greece). John started his career in television, producing and creating shows since 1997. He spent nine years at WBZ, launching two different news and lifestyle shows before ascending to Executive Producer and Managing Editor. He then went to New York, where he was a producer and reporter until 2018. John is one of Boston’s original Celtics bloggers, creating RedsArmy.com in 2006. In 2018, John joined the Celtics beat full-time for MassLive.com and then went to Boston Sports Journal in 2021, where he covered the Celtics for five years. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016, and it currently ranks as the #1 Boston Celtics podcast on iTunes and Spotify rankings. He is also one of the co-hosts of the Locked on NBA podcast.

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