After dealing with the past week’s challenges, returning to the basketball court was exactly what the Boston Celtics needed.
The team hit the hardwood at Auerbach Center Tuesday morning for the first practice of training camp, and they were locked in from the get-go.
“It was a great day,” fourth-year forward Grant Williams said after practice. “Everybody was here competing. You could see that everybody was anticipating coming back to the court, everybody was anxious and ready to get going. The first day, everybody’s a little bit sloppy, but at the end of the day, we did a great job of playing with great intensity, great energy. We did a great job of dictating the practice, controlling the vibe and controlling our effort, so a good first day.”
The first day of camp is one that Al Horford always looks forward to, and he capped off his 16th first day with a great omen in the form of a half-court swish. The 36-year-old center was beaming as he left the court, feeling energized and encouraged by what he saw out of the team.
“It’s just exciting to get back on the court,” Horford said. “Really good practice, felt like we had a lot of purpose to the practice today, and pretty focused on what we needed to do.”
Having roster continuity can help a team lock in from the start. In Boston’s case, it returns almost its entire team from last season’s Finals run, which should help propel the team through camp without having to adjust to much change.
“What we've done here over the last year has been very successful,” Joe Mazzulla said following his first practice as interim head coach. “So sticking to what the guys are comfortable with is the most important thing.”
Williams said he and his teammates felt so comfortable being back together that they could’ve just played a live, competitive game right off the bat.
“Normally you have guys coming into training camp, depending on the year, they might not know the plays,” Williams said. “But guys came in, knew the whole playbook. Guys came in ready to start going with decent concepts from the beginning. It was one of those things where everybody was attentive, and everybody was ready. You could tell that at the end of the day, everybody’s just ready to get back out there and play our first game. We could probably go out there right now and compete at a high level.”
Even the new players seemed to slide in seamlessly. Horford noted how the training camp invitees were “hungry and motivated,” and Williams praised veteran point guard Malcolm Brogdon for displaying strong communication throughout his first Celtics practice.
“I felt like everybody was in good light and good moods today,” said Williams. “We’re ready to get going because it's the first day of structured basketball since we got done last season. So you can tell the preparedness is there, the detail is there. Everybody's just focused on the one goal and that's winning.”