The Boston Celtics will enter “put up or shut up” time early in their 2019-20 regular season campaign.
ESPN NBA expert Tim Bontemps highlighted the opening week of the Celtics’ season as a definitive period, in which Boston will reveal whether it has what it takes to compete with the Eastern Conference front-runners. The Celtics will visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, host the Toronto Raptors on Friday night and welcome the Milwaukee Bucks to TD Garden on Oct. 30 in three of their first four games of the season.
Bontemps believes Boston will announce itself as an Eastern Conference force if its cast of centers can contain their higher-profile counterparts from Philly, Toronto and Milwaukee.
“It will be an instant test of Boston’s new group, particularly it’s rotation of centers hoping to try to fill the very large shoes of departed All-Star Al Horford,” Bontemps wrote Wednesday. “That was a work-in-progress during the preseason and probably will remain one for quite some time. Just how much work Boston has to do on both ends should be clear after one of the league’s most difficult opening slates.”
Bontemps earlier this week named interior defense as his biggest area of concern for the Celtics, as Enes Kanter has a reputation as an average defender at best, while Daniel Theis, Robert Williams and Vincent Poirier largely are unproven at the NBA level.
