Inject Opening Night Sixers-Celtics at TD Garden Into My Veins

Whoever schedules games for the NBA really knows what the hell they’re doing. On October 16th, the Sixers will get a fresh shot at redemption right off the bat when they ship up to Boston to play the Celtics.

As three months of nightmares from blowing a 22 point lead in Game 2 finally started to subside, this news comes just in time. The last game Ben and Joel played that mattered was in Boston. It only feels right to tip off the 2018-2019 season at TD Garden. It’s time to run this shit back.

The Sixers haven’t changed much since May but the Celtics are a different story. Barring any major setbacks, both Kyrie and Gordon Hayward will be in the starting lineup. Since neither played in the eastern conference semifinals, the Celtics being the favorite in the East seems like a fair take. It is also an incorrect take.

Just because two all-stars will finally be healthy on the same court does not mean Boston gets handed the eastern conference. Kyrie and Hayward have played a total of FIVE minutes together. It’s gonna take a couple games before those two start to gel and produce the way they should. By May, it could be a different story but early on the team with more cohesion usually prevails. Remember when the Heat Big 3 lost their first game up in Boston and then Lebron dropped the cliche of all cliches, “Rome wasn’t built in one day”?

The Sixers starting lineup will look exactly the same as it did for most of last season since we failed to bring in any big name free agents. The one difference is Ben and Jo had a healthy off-season (apologize in advance for the jynx). Ben may have been gallivanting around Cali for most of the summer, but Joel has put in work. We have seen hours of footage of him dunking on Average Joe’s in Philly but doing the same against NBA talent with Drew Hanlen. Considering the competitiveness of both stars, there is no doubt they will be ready for opening night.

Those two are must sees but I CANNOT WAIT for Markelle. If Pure Sweat gives 75% of college Markelle, we can count him as a major factor coming off the bench. We spent five torturous games wondering what could have been if Markelle was ready physically and mentally to play. Now, in Game 1, we get a peak behind the curtain.

Whoever wins or loses opening night will not have their season defined by it. Opening night will give us a small taste of what this rivalry will consist of during this season. There is one man who wont mind who wins…