NBA season tips off with anticipated doubleheader tonight on TSN
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The 2022-23 NBA season tips off Tuesday night on TSN and features a pair of enticing matchups to begin the new year.
Up first are the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics from TD Garden, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers travelling to Golden State to take on the Warriors, who will receive their rings after winning last season’s title.
Watch the first game LIVE on TSN1/4 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT followed by the second half of the doubleheader at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Games can also be streamed on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
As anticipation builds toward opening night, here is a look at each matchup.
76ers at Celtics
Last season in Philadelphia began with drama as a summer trade request from Ben Simmons turned into a holdout, a salary dispute, and eventually a trade to the Nets centred on James Harden, whose welcome had worn out quickly in Brooklyn.
Things started out well with the new-look Sixers, winning five of their first six with Harden in the lineup and going 15-8 overall after his debut to begin the playoffs as the fourth seed in the East.
The 76ers took care of the Toronto Raptors in the opening round but lost MVP runner-up Joel Embiid to a facial fracture in the clincher, forcing him to miss the first two games of the conference semis against the Miami Heat. While the Sixers got Embiid back later in the series, they fell behind 2-0 and couldn’t catch up, losing in six games. Harden struggled mightily, averaging 18.2 points on 40.5 per cent shooting for the six games, both well below his season and career averages.
But Harden said he’s approaching this year with a clean slate and even left up to $14 million on the table in the off-season to help Philly add more pieces.
“I feel like this is my first year [in Philadelphia],” Harden said of the new campaign.
Instead, it’s the Celtics who are looking to shed some off-season drama with the beginning of the new season after becoming one of the biggest stories of the summer for all the wrong reasons.
After reports emerged that disciplinary action was being considered against head coach Ime Udoka, the Celtics suspended him for the entire 2022-23 season for “multiple violations of team policies.”
So instead of a young team fresh off a trip to the NBA Finals with a star-studded core in place for years to come, the Celtics enter 2022-23 as a bit of a question mark. Joe Mazzulla – an assistant under both Brad Stevens and Udoka – gets the title of interim head coach and will be tasked with leading the Celtics to another deep playoff run.
“There’s not much to change at all. It’s just about learning from last season and how we get better,” he said.
Lakers at Warriors
After two consecutive seasons finishing outside the playoff picture, Golden State returned to the cream of the NBA crop in 2021-22, winning their fourth title in eight years.
The team was able to retain most of its roster in the off-season and seems unconcerned with their looming luxury tax bill, setting them up to continue contending for years to come. All was well in the Bay Area.
And then Draymond Green flattened Jordan Poole with a right hook.
On Oct. 5, a confrontation between Green and Poole at practice turned physical, with Green taking exception to a shove by laying out his teammate. The incident has raised serious questions about Green’s future with the organization. Poole wasn’t injured by the punch and an apologetic Green soon rejoined the team after a brief leave of absence. Both players have said all the right things and claim that the chase for another championship is far more important than personal squabbles.
“Everybody in the locker room and on our team knows what it takes to win a championship and we’re going to do that on the court. That’s really all I have to say on the matter, we’re here to win a championship and keep hanging banners,” Poole said last week.
Whether or not anything festers into the regular season should be intriguing to watch.
Speaking of intriguing, is there a team with more storylines surrounding it than the Lakers?
There was the gigantic letdown that was last season with the team finishing 16 games under .500 to miss the playoffs for the second time in LeBron James’ tenure. Then there was the Russell Westbrook trade talks, which involved the Lakers dangling what little draft capital they had to rid themselves of the future Hall-of-Famer and his $47 million salary, according to multiple reports. Westbrook was not traded and instead the team brought in the charismatic Patrick Beverley, who had previously butted heads with Westbrook on multiple occasions.
Couple that with the questions surrounding the health of Anthony Davis, the first year under new head coach Darvin Ham and the pressure to take advantage of LeBron’s waning superstar years and it’s tough to find a team that will be more under the microscope this season than the Lakers.
L.A. will have their work cut out for them right out of the gate with six of their first seven games against teams that made the playoffs last season. Patience is never abundant with the Lakers, and it especially won’t be this season.