The NBA Cup tips off this Friday and the Celtics get their group play started with the second home game against the Chicago Bulls.
Boston’s NBA Cup schedule is:
vs Chicago, 10/30 at 7:30pm/EST at TD Garden
at Charlotte, 11/6 at 7:00pm/EST at Spectrum Center
at Washington, 11/24 at 8:00pm/EST at Capital One Arena, that game is on NBC
vs Atlanta, 11/26 at 8:00pm/EST at TD Garden
It is a pretty light group for the Celtics and one they should be favored to win. In fact, I will be upset if they don’t.
With that
said, they still need to play the games and all 4 of the teams Boston will play presents challenges.
Bulls
We saw Chicago on Monday and they aren’t a very good team. However, they can be a dangerous team.
Nic Claxton has yet to debut for the Bulls, he is likely to miss this game as well. Norman Powell was Chicago’s other big veteran addition, he had 20 points in the Celtics 134-99 win over the Bulls on Monday.
It starts with rookie Caleb Wilson, who had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on Monday night. The athleticism is what jumps off the screen early in Wilson’s career and I am excited to see how his shot comes along.
To this point, the Bulls rank 27th in offense and 29th in defense, according to NBA.com.
One thing Boston will need to do in this one is limit the turnovers. They had 25 in Monday’s win and they will likely lose this game if they turn it over that many times again.
Hornets
The Hornets made some big changes this summer sending LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges out the door. They added Naz Reid, Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen in those trades while acquiring former Celtic Dennis Schroder in a deal with the Cavaliers.
The Hornets have been missing Coby White and Kon Knueppel to start the season so Brandon Miller has needed to play a big role, 24.3 points per game this season. His efficiency is down but the Hornets are winning games. They are 3-1 on the season.
Charlotte ranks 30th in offense and 11th in defense, though the offensive numbers will improve once they get Knueppel and White back, neither player has a timetable to return.
The Celtics will need to control the glass in this game as the Hornets are 6th in offensive rebounding percentage and 2nd in defensive rebounding percentage in the early part of the season according to Cleaning the Glass.
Wizards
The Wizards are a far better team than they were last year but it is still a flawed group.
Anthony Davis and Trae Young were brought in at the deadline last year and Massachusetts native AJ Dybantsa was selected with the first pick in the draft, he made in NBA debut on Wednesday night after missing the first four games of the season with a left ankle sprain.
Ranking 12th in offense and 21st in defense Washington has been up and down to start the season.
Keeping Washington off the foul line will be a key for the Celtics, to this point Washington has the 6th highest free throw rate in the NBA in the young season.
Hawks
The Hawks added Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Dorian Finney-Smith and Kingston Flemmings this offseason.
Atlanta was the only team to beat the Knicks twice in a single series in the playoffs last year. This is a good team to start the season. A 2-2 start is hampered by 2 games against the undefeated Houston Rockets. Atlanta is led by Jalen Johnson who was an All-Star and made the All-NBA third team last season.
So far this season, the Hawks rank 7th in offense and 14th in defense. They have shown to be the Celtics stiffest competition in this group, though any team can win it due to the small sample size.
Turnovers will be the key to this game. The Hawks have been a low turnover team ranking 5th in turnover percentage while turning teams over a lot on the other end, ranking 2nd in the NBA in that category.
I would pick the Celtics to win this group. They have shown to be a very good team early in this season and, outside of Atlanta, don’t have the stiffest competition. However, Boston has been prone to frustrating group play losses in the cup, losing to Brooklyn last year and these Atlanta Hawks in 2024.
I am the type of sicko who does genuinely want to win this tournament so it is up to the Celtics to take care of their business and win this group, or even advance as a wild card, and get to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup.
