Right at the start, the thing that jumps out: we have a new team.
How are the Celtics going to play without Al Horford? And 12 of the first 19 games are going to be on the road. Tough games, too. Opening up in Philly, there's San Antonio in there, you have a West Coast swing that has the Clippers, Sacramento, Pheonix, Denver, right off the start. It's just not going to be an easy stretch.
If they get through that, and they're two, three games above .500, then they can start making some serious traction. But a lot of habits and a lot of how your season unfolds has to do with the way that you start. I think Brad Stevens, I think the team, are all going to recognize how they have to come out of the gates.
Another thing that really stands out is the month of February. Past the trade deadline, the Celtics go to Oklahoma City and Houston — not an easy trip. Oklahoma City's probably not going to be as good, they're kind of rebuilding, but Houston's going to be tough. Come back, play the Clippers. Go to break, come back on the West Coast for Minnesota, the Lakers, Portland, Utah. That stretch, in and of itself, if you had momentum, if you were a top seed, you could have a bad two weeks and lose that seed and now be in a dog fight the rest of the way.
Some of the games I want to see are going to be Zion Williamson and the Pelicans coming to town on January 11, Atlanta might be a really good team, just because I think one team in the East has to make the playoffs. I think there's going to be three teams that we don't know that are going to end up making that jump. Atlanta could be one of those teams. They were hard playing last year at the end of the season, that's a Friday night game at home. I'm interested in that.
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.