The Celtics open preseason at Cleveland on Thursday with no transactions, injuries, or fresh reporting attached to Boston in the past day and a half. Camp's open questions - an unfilled two-way spot, a payroll above the tax line - sit exactly where they did last week.
Cleveland enters as last season's second-best record in a crowded East.
The Cavaliers won 52 games a year ago on a 118.3 offensive rating and a 4.1 net rating, well below Boston's 8.3. Kenny Atkinson's rotation returns largely intact - James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen - and it is the group Boston will face again once games count. Peyton Watson carries a day-to-day hamstring listing, so his minutes tonight are uncertain.
Boston's own questions haven't moved in a week.
No transaction, injury, or report touched the Celtics in the past day and a half. The two-way roster spot flagged open since September 12 still has no named candidate, and George, Tatum and Pritchard keep turning up in notes roundups without a new detail attached to any of them.
The payroll sits exactly where it did at the start of camp.
Boston carries $203.9 million in salary, $3.5 million above the league's $200.4 million tax line. Tatum's $58.5 million and George's $54.1 million anchor the books, with Derrick White at $30.3 million behind them. That number holds until the regular season opener, twelve days out.
Four preseason games remain before anything counts.
Boston plays at Cleveland tonight, hosts Philadelphia Saturday, then Charlotte on October 14 and Philadelphia again on October 16, before the October 20 opener at Detroit. No back-to-backs in that stretch - the only schedule fact that has held since last week.
When do the Celtics play their first regular-season game?
October 20 at Detroit, following four preseason games that start tonight at Cleveland.
Are the Celtics over the luxury tax this season?
Yes. Boston's $203.9 million payroll sits $3.5 million above the $200.4 million tax line.
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