After nearly six months to the date, the Boston Celtics make their return to Chase Center on Saturday night to face off against the Golden State Warriors for the first time since the two battled it in the NBA Finals last season.
The Celtics came up short by two games of raising the franchise's 17th championship banner. However, they have displayed a noticeable bounce-back-like mentality in their energy and offensive dominance through the first 26 games played in their 2022-23 campaign.
Even Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who took home his fourth championship ring as a head coach after Golden State defeated Boston, acknowledged a motivated Celtics team.
"I'm sure the motivation from last year is there and driving them," Kerr said on Friday, according to ESPN's Kendra Andrews. "They've been, by far, the best team in the league."
It's become nearly impossible to not credit what the Celtics have managed to accomplish, despite there being 56 games left on their schedule entering the contest. Yet, while the sample size doesn't even cover half the season, that doesn't make it any less noteworthy.
Aside from being subjected to overcome a late offseason head coaching scandal centered around Ime Udoka, the Celtics have more than shrugged that distraction off with flying colors.
The Celtics offense, which finished ninth in the league in offensive rating (113.6) and averaged 111.8 points per game last season, hasn't missed a beat. Before taking the floor against the Warriors, the Celtics entered atop the NBA both in offensive rating (119.9) and in points (120.8).
Tipoff between the 21-5 Celtics and 13-13 Warriors at Chase Center is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
