2012-2013 NBA Season Preview – Boston Celtics

It had to have been a long offseason for the Boston Celtics with a lot of time to ponder not being able to put away the Miami Heat after winning 3 games in a row to take a lead over the eventual world champs 3-2.  They had a big departure with Ray Allen moving to the Heat but they made some nice moves and will once again be a team to contend with in the East.  America’s Bookie has the Celtics at +1000 to win the NBA championship and +550 to win the Eastern Conference.

As mentioned Ray Allen went to the Miami Heat for less money in the offseason and will not be looked upon favorably amongst the Celtic faithful.  Now Rondo has moved up to one of the big 3 and he will be the one that this team is built around more and more.  Doc Rivers had already started replacing Allen with Avery Bradley in games last year, which is one reason why Allen was dissatisfied.  Bradley did have double shoulder surgery in the offseason so it will remain to be seen how he comes back from that.  Look for Jason Terry to be able to back up both Bradley and Rondo and the veteran will be a strong scorer off the bench.

Paul Pierce faltered a bit in the series against Miami but was nursing a sprained knee.  Jeff Green will be back to provide backup at this position but I think a lot really depends on Pierce.  He can be a dominant player and that is going to be needed this season to take out the Heat.  Brandon Bass was surprisingly effective for the Celtics last season as a pick and pop shooter.  Rebounding is a bit of an issue but he blends well with Rondo and opens up the floor for Garnett.

And speaking of Garnett, it looks like he is more than likely going to finish his career out as a center for the Celtics.  He did quite well there last season after he was moved.  He was probably the best in the East down the stretch, except for maybe Dwight Howard.  Look for Boston to give him a lot of help when he comes up against the best in the NBA such as DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum but KG can hold his own quite well against most centers in the league.  This is going to be a big key to Boston’s success this year.  The health of Garnett.  If he goes down to injury the Celtics’ stock drops big time.

Doc Rivers is one of the smartest basketball guys in the NBA and he will find a way to win with this bunch.  What he did with what he had last year could not have been accomplished by the huge majority of coaches in the game and he is a big plus for Boston’s chances.  Besides Miami there are going to be lots of tough teams this year.  Brooklyn, Philly and New York are all going to be competitive so the division is not going to be a cakewalk.  Boston has another quality team however and we should still be talking about them as relevant when the playoffs come around.

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