2012-2013 Celtics Preview

With the Boston Celtics having had their first preseason game last friday, October 5^th, it only seemed right to preview their upcoming season and show what the 2012-2013 Celtics will be bringing to the hardwood this year. After losing in the conference finals to the Miami Heat in a fantastic 7 game series, the Celtics are looking to keep the momentum and move even further this year. They have made many moves since that series in June and even though it is a different team, they will still have those great expectations like other Celtic teams before them.

The team is always the main focus of the fans whenever they are entering a new season. Over the off-season, the Boston Celtics have made plenty of moves. Their first moves were in the 2012 draft were two “Big” named players. First was the dominant offensive big man from Ohio State, Jared Sullinger. Then, they stayed in the front court grabbing the popular defensive seven-footer Fab Melo from Syracuse (seen below). The Celtics were thought to have been a small team the year before, so these seem like very good fits to make Boston a complete team again.

There was speculation that the “Big 3” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen were going to be broken up because of their old age but the Celtics actually kept 2 out of 3. Ray Allen took his talents to South Beach, playing for the team that beat them in the postseason. Because of that missing hole, Danny Ainge brought in the veteran Jason Terry from the 2011 Champions, the Mavericks. Other moves included acquiring Courtney Lee from the Houston Rockets and re-signing players like Garnett, Jeff Green, and Brandon Bass.

The Celtics have a great core of perennial All-Stars like Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett, and with the new youth and veterans it would seem as though they are ready to make a deep run into the playoffs.

The first preseason game Friday didn’t go as well as planned though, with the Celtics losing to the Turkish team Istanbul Fenerbahce Ulker 91-97. This shouldn’t reflect the season however, with Garnett only playing 15 minutes and Pierce and Rondo only getting about 30 each, this was more of a learning experience for the newer, younger players to help chemistry.

Boston has 7 more preseason games to get their lineups, plays, and chemistry together before the regular season begins. The Boston Celtics will be starting the real season on Tuesday, October 30th, against the team that ended their season last year. The Celtics were one win away from progressing to the Finals last year and it seems that with the team they have this year, they will have a very good chance to make another run at the Title.