Boston Celtics: A closer look the first preseason game of a new era

The Boston Celtics played their first game of the preseason on Monday night against the Orlando Magic. Although most people don’t take notice of the preseason games, there are meaningful things to take note of as the preseason progresses for the Celtics. With a new coaching staff on the parquet, it’ll be interesting to see how they rotate and set lineups.

To start the game, first-year head coach Ime Udoka rolled out Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Juancho Hernangomez, and Robert Williams. About halfway through the quarter, Udoka rotated in Al Horford, Josh Richardson, and Dennis Schroder. Udoka’s coaching decisions showed that he values his veterans and wants to get the most out of those guys this year.

The Boston Celtics were victorious in their first preseason game of the year. With a new coaching staff, the preseason becomes even more important.

The big surprise with the lineup was Hernangomez being the other starting forward next to Tatum. It’s fair to say that Udoka hasn’t seen much of him up close and wanted to evaluate how he fares running with the starting core group of the Celtics. He adds much-needed size to the position and maneuvers himself around the court quite swiftly for a lanky 6’9”, 214 lbs. forward.

Coach Udoka is intrigued with what Hernangomez can offer the Boston Celtics. Here’s what he said before the game during his pregame press conference:

"“Juancho’s a guy that fits into that role with some of the younger wings we have as well as Grant Williams. So as I mentioned the other day, we’ll tinker with some lineups and look at different combinations.”- Ime Udoka, per Brian Robb of MassLive"

The initial addition of Hernangomez automatically affected the rotation, for better or for worse. It affects guys like Al Horford, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford, and Aaron Nesmith (to a certain extent) finding minutes throughout the game. By doing so, Langford patiently waited 38 minutes before getting his first opportunity. Langford is poised and trying to prove to the Celtics that he can be a rotational player for them, but it’s hard to do so when you’re given 10 minutes at the end of the game.

Speaking of the end of the game, it was because of the young players who stepped up big when it mattered most. Payton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith, and Langford all hit big shots down the stretch to elevate the Boston Celtics to victory. It’s worth mentioning that despite not playing many minutes, Langford was able to connect on the game-winning 3-point shot at the end of the game.

Out of the few newcomers on the team, Dennis Schroder impressed the most. He produced only six points on a bad shooting night. However, he also had three rebounds and finished second on the team with four assists. Schroder was enjoying throwing alley-oop lobs to his big men in Williams and Horford.

The biggest takeaway I gathered from this first preseason game is that Brown is still feeling the aftermath of the surgery he had on his left wrist back in May. Similar to Langford, Brown tore his scapholunate ligament, however, Brown’s recovery time was much shorter than Langford’s. Despite feeling sore, Brown scored a game-high 25 points and shot 50 percent from within the arc.

The lingering pain in Brown’s wrist was evident. He caused a few turnovers by trying to crossover his opponents or just by attempting simple dribble moves from right to left. You can see the trying look on Brown’s face during the game when attempting to use his left hand. Brown acknowledged that he could feel the pain during the game.

"“It held up pretty good. At times it bothered me a little bit. But I’m moving in the right direction. I’m still like 80-85% but as the season goes on, staying on top of my routine, it’s going to get better. Today was a good test.” – Jaylen Brown postgame"

The remainder of the preseason will continue to be a great test for Brown. He needs to evaluate himself to see if he’s going to be able to make his moves without feeling pain or potentially hurting the team by causing a turnover. Brown is a huge component in the Boston Celtics ascending to the top.

The Celtics cannot do it without Brown. They need him to be as close to 100 percent in his health as he can be while feeling confident in himself on the court.

The Boston Celtics play host to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday for their second preseason game.