Boston beat Houston on this date in 1979 and Buffalo in 1973, each inside a season that reshaped the roster around it — Bird's rookie year, then Cowens' championship run. This year's preseason record of 2-0, built around Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and a newly arrived Paul George, sits inside the same pattern: early results, late verdicts.
The two wins on this date sit inside pivot seasons.
October 12, 1979 produced a 114-106 win over Houston in Larry Bird's rookie year, the season before the Big Three era began. October 12, 1973 brought a 118-112 win over Buffalo in the campaign that ended with Dave Cowens and the Celtics hoisting the 1974 title. Neither result forecast what followed; both seasons did.
Eighteen championships make last season's collapse a smaller event than it looked.
Boston holds the NBA record with 18 titles, one ahead of the Lakers after the 2024 championship closed a gap that had sat tied at 17 for years. Last season's 56-26 run, the league's No. 4 net rating at 8.3, ended with a blown 3-1 lead and a first-round exit against Philadelphia. One series loss reads differently against that record than it would anywhere else.
This roster was rebuilt the way Boston usually rebuilds: a core traded for picks.
Garnett and Pierce left for four first-round picks in 2013; two became Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. This summer ran the same play forward — Brown left for Paul George and four more picks, two firsts and two seconds, on a roster that already owns its 2027 and 2030 first-rounders outright. The payroll behind it, $203.9 million, sits above the $200.4 million tax line, the going rate for keeping a contender's core together.
Health, not scheme, is what links this month to the ones that won banners.
Tatum played 16 games last season, George 37 at age 36; both are central to this roster and neither has a record for availability. The 1973-74 and 1979-80 seasons both rode their best players deep into June. The preseason wins over Cleveland and Philadelphia say nothing yet about whether this group gets there.
Has Boston played on October 12 before?
Yes. The Celtics won on this date in 1979, 114-106 over Houston during Larry Bird's rookie season, and in 1973, 118-112 over Buffalo in the year Boston went on to win the 1974 title.
How many championships have the Celtics won?
Eighteen, an NBA record, one ahead of the Lakers' 17 since the 2024 title.
More from The Parquet Report
all Celtics news →
By the numbers · Mon, Oct 12By the Numbers: The Math Boston Carries Into This Season
Morning · Mon, Oct 12The Backups Closed It, and the Injury List Reopened
From the archives · Fri, Oct 9The Parquet Outlasts the Personnel
From the archives · Sun, Oct 4Boston Has Done This Before: Trade a Star, Bank the Picks
From the archives · Thu, Oct 1The Trade That Built the Jays Is the Trade That Ended Them
From the archives · Sat, Sep 26A Franchise That Trades Eras for Picks Just Did It Again