Boston Celtics: 5 Biggest Games On The 2013-14 Schedule
The official NBA schedule was released Tuesday and fans of all teams quickly look for the key games, rivalry matchups and visits from the league’s biggest stars. While the Boston Celtics of 2013-14 lack the star power and marquee draw of years past, the young team and its fans have a number of games to look forward to as they begin the next phase in franchise history. With a quick look over the schedule, there are some matchups that immediately jump off the page and will have Celtics’ fans filling the stands or glued to their screens at home. Here are the five biggest games for the Celtics on the 2013-14 schedule.
Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks – TD Garden – Nov. 1
The Milwaukee Bucks will be in town for the first home game of the season for the new-look Boston Celtics. For many of the players on this Celtics roster, this will be their first opportunity to play as a Celtic in front of a packed Garden crowd. The matchup may lack the stars we have seen in home openers over recent years, but the young Bucks team, which finds itself in a similar rebuilding situation, will give the Celtics the perfect opportunity to notch a win in their first game at home in 2013-14. The Boston faithful will fill the stands and come out to see all of the newly acquired players in action. From rookie Kelly Olynyk to veteran workhorse Gerald Wallace, the newest members of the Celtics will get their opportunity to impress their new fans and get an early win in what could be a tough season. If all goes to plan, this will also be Rajon Rondo’s return to the court in Boston. The first game on the 2013-14 schedule is two days earlier in Toronto; however, most fans will be looking forward to the team’s first appearance on its home floor.
Doc Rivers will return to Boston as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 11. (Flickr.com photo by Keith Allison)
Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Clippers – TD Garden – Dec. 11
The first major move for the Celtics this offseason was the departure of former coach Doc Rivers, who had been with the team for nearly a decade before a move to Los Angeles which cost the Clippers a 2015 first-round draft pick. Rivers, who began coaching the Celtics in 2004, endured some of the toughest and some of the most storied seasons in franchise history. He had become a staple on the sidelines in a league where head coaches seem to change every year. Amassing more than 400 wins for the Celtics, Rivers became one of the most popular and successful coaches in the league. He coached the team to the 2007-08 NBA championship and was rewarded as head coach of the Eastern All-Star team on two occasions. Rivers’ return to Boston is bound to be an emotional one for the coach, the fans, his old players and general manager Danny Ainge. Expect a long standing ovation from the Celtics’ faithful and a heartfelt video tribute on the Jumbotron for Doc’s return; however, you can just as easily bank on new coach Brad Stevens and point guard Rajon Rondo wanting to make a statement with a win over the highly fancied Clippers to spoil the coming-home party.
Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets – TD Garden – Jan. 26
The biggest, most emotional and most covered game of the Celtics’ season will come with the return of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Boston, wearing Brooklyn Nets’ jerseys. Fans will have to wait until the end of January to see the return of these two future Hall of Famers, but no doubt the emotion will be high and the building will be electric as two of Boston’s favorite sons suit up for the first time against their former team in the building they called home.
Garnett embraced “Celtic Pride” like few before him; his arrival in 2007 triggered a change of culture for the proud franchise and his defensive leadership drove the team to the 2007-08 title. His passion and intensity (sometimes insanity) led him to become one of the city’s favorite athletes, a living legend who left his heart and soul on the court every night. The Celtics franchise and especially its fans will miss him dearly and this will be no more apparent than when he is slamming his head against the opposing backboard protector or barking out defensive instructions for the Nets.
Pierce will be even harder for the Boston fans to see suiting up for another team, as the 15-year-pro had spent his entire career with the Celtics until his trade to the Nets. The former captain and heart of the team, Pierce is responsible for some of the greatest moments in Celtic history and is scattered among countless lists on the franchise’s all-time record books. Pierce was there through the good times and the bad, as were the Boston fans with him. He was the face, the leader and the soul of the franchise that drafted him as a rookie in 1998 and his return to the Garden in another team’s jersey is bound to result in a range of emotional reactions from both he and the fans. It will undoubtedly be the toughest for Pierce himself, who truly believed he would be a Celtic for life and has never had to walk into the visitor’s locker room in the Garden.
Traditionally the Celtics run a video tribute for returning players during a timeout to show their appreciation, but they may need an entire half to show the highlights of these two legends whose numbers will one day hang in the rafters. They may also find a few seconds to show one of the five or so shots Jason Terry hit as a Celtic, who will also make his return to Boston.
Paul Pierce will make an emotional return to Boston with the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 26. Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat – TD Garden – March 19
The defending NBA champions have just a single appearance in Boston this season and it will come late in the season as the battle for playoff position (or lotrery balls) is heating up. The star power of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh is also bound to bring out the crowds, but especially in Boston where the two teams have experienced a heated rivalry in recent times, the game is always one to circle on the calendar. Despite the departure of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, the feeling in the TD Garden is bound to be aggressive and we know that Rajon Rondo always brings his A-game against the Heat. While the teams are likely to be in drastically different positions on the standings by this stage of the season, no doubt the Celtics’ players and crowd will lift for the occasion and give the defending champion Heat everything they can handle in an always hostile environment.
Boston Celtics vs Washington Wizards – TD Garden – April 16
The final game on the 2013-14 schedule for the Celtics will come on April 16 when the team hosts the Washington Wizards. Traditionally the final games of the season can have a monumental impact on final playoff standings or the number of lottery balls a team receives in the upcoming NBA draft. Both the Wizards and Celtics have young teams with star point guards who have huge question marks coming into this season. Either team could potentially be fighting for a low playoff seed or just as easily be near the bottom of the East, hoping for luck in the draft lottery. This game could be the final chance for either team to land a playoff seed, to improve their standing or potentially jump up the rankings in the draft order. If the Celtics are out of the playoff hunt then this will be the final opportunity for fans to come out and see the team live before enduring a long offseason without playoff basketball. No predicting what exactly will be on the line for this game, but history shows us that there could be huge ramifications based on its outcome.