Jaylen Brown, Celtics blow out Grizzlies in preseason opener

The 2025-26 Celtics look rather a lot totally different from final 12 months’s roster, however they returned to the court docket for the primary time since final 12 months’s disastrous exit in opposition to the Knicks with a 121-103 preseason victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

Listed below are the takeaways. 

A primary look and a contemporary begin.

Wednesday’s sport supplied us with our first have a look at a brand new period of Celtics basketball, and in a really encouraging flip of occasions, their first sport sans Jayson Tatum (quickly) in addition to Jrue Vacation, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet (completely), the Celtics provided followers some a lot wanted catharsis. 

The final time we noticed the Celtics, they had been run off the ground in Recreation 6 by a Knicks staff that they strongly felt they need to have crushed after dropping their franchise famous person to one of many worst accidents an expert athlete can undergo.

That loss despatched the Celtics into an offseason when everybody paying consideration knew that gamers like Vacation, Porzingis, and Horford would doubtless be dealt to duck beneath the second apron. That made the upcoming season really feel a little bit like a throwaway — maybe even a chance to tank their means towards a shot at hometown lottery expertise AJ Dybantsa. 

However, the Celtics don’t tank, and so they had been by no means more likely to be dangerous sufficient to win the lottery with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White on the roster, which is why the Celtics’ efficiency on Wednesday felt so refreshing.

The whole lot Joe Mazzulla mentioned about their priorities was born out on the ground. The Celtics had been scrappy, stable, and quick. Derrick White tore straight to the rim and scored on their second possession. The protection was hyper-aggressive; as a staff, the Celtics recorded 13 steals and 10 blocks. They threw wave after wave of high-energy position gamers onto the ground, all of whom seemed to be totally purchased in on the staff’s want to stand up and down quick and rating shortly. They created beauty from three and hit the offensive glass laborious.

They had been, for prolonged stretches, way more stable and coherent than a gaggle of latest faces has any enterprise being. 

In fact, Wednesday’s sport comes with caveats. It was the primary preseason contest, and their dominance got here on the expense of a Grizzlies staff that was with out Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Brandon Clarke. The Celtics shall be overmatched at occasions this 12 months, which can really feel very unusual after their near-superteam standing of the final two seasons. 

Nonetheless, presenting the caveats is just meant to faucet the brakes, not slam on them. Wednesday’s sport confirmed what the 2025-26 Celtics may appear like at their greatest: a enjoyable staff that completely suits the ethos of a metropolis that likes to see itself as a scrappy underdog. 

After one of many darkest offseasons in latest reminiscence, the new-look roster provided followers actual rays of optimism. Whether or not or not these rays maintain up over the course of a protracted NBA season, Celtics followers can really feel actually good for the primary time in months. 

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White look prepared for his or her roles

During the last two seasons, Brown embraced video games with out Tatum on the ground as a chance to flex his personal prodigious talents. Now, with Tatum sidelined indefinitely, the Celtics are actually Brown’s staff for the primary time. 

Brown appeared greater than prepared for the problem on Wednesday. Totally healed after present process arthroscopic surgical procedure for a torn meniscus in his proper knee following the season, Brown appeared shifty and contemporary with 21 factors in simply 20 first-half minutes. In a little bit of a quirk, he didn’t document an help, however that was largely because of his position — he was clearly the staff’s major scorer, whereas White dealt with the facilitating. 

For his half, White appeared like a participant about to embark on a marketing campaign for his first All-Star look. That received’t be straightforward in a crowded Japanese Convention, however White scored 16 factors and dished out 10 assists in 27 minutes and — like Brown — appeared able to tackle higher duties within the absence of Tatum and Vacation. 

Different names will doubtless dominate headlines after Wednesday’s sport, however Brown and White appeared prepared to steer the Celtics into a brand new period. On a staff full of latest faces, two acquainted ones will doubtless outline the Celtics’ season.

Luka Garza appeared suspiciously like a former Celtic

Cease us in case you’ve heard this one earlier than: A Celtics huge man who beforehand was generally known as a pick-and-pop 3-point shooter stepped onto the roster and instantly began setting clever screens and rolling to the basket. Much more encouraging: He grabbed a bunch of rebounds and scored on the rim, incomes a bunch of journeys to the free-throw line. 

You’d be excused in case you thought we had been referring to Luke Kornet, nevertheless it was his successor, Luka Garza, who got here off the bench and appeared like an ideal match on the roster. Garza isn’t notably quick or explosive, however he performed rock-solid positional protection, hit the offensive glass laborious, and contributed in lots of small methods that can endear him massively to each the teaching workers and the Celtics’ ball-handlers. 

Garza signed a two-year deal price $5.5 million this offseason to little or no fanfare, however the Celtics’ decision-makers might have finished it once more. On Wednesday, he appeared like a very nice discover for a staff that wanted inexpensive manufacturing. 

The Celtics may need some canine

We’ll hold tapping the “It’s the primary sport of preseason” signal as many occasions as crucial, besides, the Celtics confirmed flashes of a roster with extra grit than sandpaper. 

Rookie Hugo González swatted three pictures and picked off a steal that preceded an enormous one-handed dunk.