Boston Celtics

Season opener

By Gary Dzen

1 minute to read

Welcome to the Garden, where the Celtics will make their highly-anticipated season debut tonight against the Washington Wizards at 8 p.m.

Much of the focus tonight will be on the new Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, but the big news before the game is that the Celtics will officially dedicate their famed parquet floor to the late Red Auerbach before the game.

The floor will have Auerbach’s signature permanently painted near the Celtics bench, according to a press release from the team. Celtics captain Paul Pierce, the franchise’s first captain Bob Cousy, and Auerbach’s daughter Randy will unveil the signature in a ceremony.

  • Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was alone taking three-pointers at about 5:30 p.m. Rondo, whose shooting was the most maligned part of his game last season, seemed loose when firing from beyond the arc.
  • Rondo was joined next by Pierce, who walked onto the court and proclaimed “Nice and cold. Just how I like it.”

    He’s right. It’s downright arctic in here.

    I’m not sure if this has been reported earlier this offseason, but Paul Pierce looks noticeably more cut than he did last season. He supposedly did a ton of work on his fitness this offseason, and it looks like it has paid off.

  • The Garden looks essentially the same as it did last year, but the Celtics are welcoming select fans tonight with shamrocks at their seats which read “Welcome to your seat, [Your name here].” It’s a nice touch.

    It’s too early to tell the energy level of the crowd because the doors have not opened to the public, but we’ll give you a sense of the scene tonight as we go along.

    More to come when the locker rooms open at 6:30 p.m. We’ll have live blogging from myself and the Globe’s Marc Spears as the night goes on.

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