Celtics Open Preseason in Cleveland With a Clean Slate and a Messy Recent Sample
Boston carries a 1st-place Atlantic Division standing and a lot of small-sample noise into a preseason opener at Cleveland.
Every team is 0-0 right now, which is the most honest sentence I'll write all year. Boston Celtics (0-0 overall, 0-0 road, 0-0 vs. conference) open their preseason Thursday at the Cleveland Cavaliers (0-0 overall, 0-0 home, 0-0 vs. conference), and the box score, for once, tells us nothing. The regular-season series between these two doesn't even start until December 28. So why write 500 words about a game with a blank record?
Because the numbers we do have are interesting, even if they come with an asterisk the size of Rocket Arena.
What the numbers say
Boston's listed as 1st in the Atlantic Division — a standing that, paired with 0-0 records across the board, is more a placeholder than a proclamation. Still, it's the only standings data in front of me, so I'll take it: nominally, Boston is starting from the top of its division.
The more textured data point is the "last five games" logs for each team. Cleveland's are ugly: one win (125-94 at Detroit) surrounded by four losses, including a 130-93 defeat at home against New York and an overtime loss on the road. Boston's own last five are a coin flip — two wins over Philadelphia (108-100 on the road, then a blowout 128-96) against three losses to the same opponent (113-97, 106-93, 109-100). [A modest sample, but it's the only film we've got, and it reads as Boston beating Philly big when things click and losing tight-to-medium when they don't.]
What my gut says
Recent form against one common opponent (Philadelphia for Boston, New York for Cleveland) isn't nothing, but it's also not predictive of a preseason game against a third team. My gut says: don't overreact to any of this Thursday night, no matter how it looks.
The injury report
Cleveland will be without guard Peyton Watson, listed day-to-day with a hamstring strain. No Boston injuries are listed.
How to watch
Thursday, October 8th at 7:00 PM ET, Rocket Arena, Cleveland.
Our take
This is a preseason opener between two 0-0 teams with a division standing that means more on paper than on the floor. If I had to guess, I'd lean Boston based on recent scoring margins against Philadelphia — but that's a gut call, not a stat-backed one, and preseason basketball has a way of making fools of anyone who takes it too seriously. Treat Thursday as data collection, not a verdict.