Jaylen Brown, Celtics blow out Grizzlies in preseason opener

Boston Celtics

The Celtics notched a strong win over the Grizzlies, opening their preseason on a high note after a disastrous end to their last campaign.

The 2025-26 Celtics look a lot different from last year’s roster, but they returned to the court for the first time since last year’s disastrous exit against the Knicks with a 121-103 preseason victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

Here are the takeaways. 

A first look and a fresh start.

Wednesday’s game provided us with our first look at a new era of Celtics basketball, and in a very encouraging turn of events, their first game sans Jayson Tatum (temporarily) as well as Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet (permanently), the Celtics offered fans some much needed catharsis. 

The last time we saw the Celtics, they were run off the floor in Game 6 by a Knicks team that they strongly felt they should have beaten after losing their franchise superstar to one of the worst injuries a professional athlete can suffer.

That loss sent the Celtics into an offseason when everyone paying attention knew that players like Holiday, Porzingis, and Horford would likely be dealt to duck under the second apron. That made the upcoming season feel a little like a throwaway — perhaps even an opportunity to tank their way toward a shot at hometown lottery talent AJ Dybantsa. 

But, the Celtics don’t tank, and they were never likely to be bad enough to win the lottery with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White on the roster, which is why the Celtics’ performance on Wednesday felt so refreshing.

Everything Joe Mazzulla said about their priorities was born out on the floor. The Celtics were scrappy, solid, and fast. Derrick White tore straight to the rim and scored on their second possession. The defense was hyper-aggressive; as a team, the Celtics recorded 13 steals and 10 blocks. They threw wave after wave of high-energy role players onto the floor, all of whom appeared to be fully bought in on the team’s desire to get up and down fast and score quickly. They created good looks from three and hit the offensive glass hard.

They were, for lengthy stretches, far more solid and coherent than a group of new faces has any business being. 

Of course, Wednesday’s game comes with caveats. It was the first preseason contest, and their dominance came at the expense of a Grizzlies team that was without Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Brandon Clarke. The Celtics will be overmatched at times this year, which will feel very strange after their near-superteam status of the last two seasons. 

Still, presenting the caveats is simply meant to tap the brakes, not slam on them. Wednesday’s game showed what the 2025-26 Celtics could look like at their best: a fun team that perfectly fits the ethos of a city that loves to see itself as a scrappy underdog. 

After one of the darkest offseasons in recent memory, the new-look roster offered fans real rays of optimism. Whether or not those rays hold up over the course of a long NBA season, Celtics fans can feel really good for the first time in months. 

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White look ready for their roles

Over the last two seasons, Brown embraced games without Tatum on the floor as an opportunity to flex his own prodigious abilities. Now, with Tatum sidelined indefinitely, the Celtics are truly Brown’s team for the first time. 

Brown looked more than ready for the challenge on Wednesday. Fully healed after undergoing arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee following the season, Brown looked shifty and fresh with 21 points in just 20 first-half minutes. In a bit of a quirk, he didn’t record an assist, but that was largely due to his role — he was clearly the team’s primary scorer, while White handled the facilitating. 

For his part, White looked like a player about to embark on a campaign for his first All-Star appearance. That won’t be easy in a crowded Eastern Conference, but White scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists in 27 minutes and — like Brown — appeared ready to take on greater responsibilities in the absence of Tatum and Holiday. 

Other names will likely dominate headlines after Wednesday’s game, but Brown and White looked ready to lead the Celtics into a new era. On a team full of new faces, two familiar ones will likely define the Celtics’ season.

Luka Garza looked suspiciously like a former Celtic

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A Celtics big man who previously was known as a pick-and-pop 3-point shooter stepped onto the roster and immediately started setting artful screens and rolling to the basket. Even more encouraging: He grabbed a bunch of rebounds and scored at the rim, earning a bunch of trips to the free-throw line. 

You’d be excused if you thought we were referring to Luke Kornet, but it was his successor, Luka Garza, who came off the bench and looked like a perfect fit on the roster. Garza isn’t particularly fast or explosive, but he played rock-solid positional defense, hit the offensive glass hard, and contributed in a lot of small ways that will endear him massively to both the coaching staff and the Celtics’ ball-handlers. 

Garza signed a two-year deal worth $5.5 million this offseason to very little fanfare, but the Celtics’ decision-makers may have done it again. On Wednesday, he looked like a really nice find for a team that needed affordable production. 

The Celtics might have some dogs

We’ll keep tapping the “It’s the first game of preseason” sign as many times as necessary, but even so, the Celtics showed flashes of a roster with more grit than sandpaper. 

Rookie Hugo González swatted three shots and picked off a steal that preceded a massive one-handed dunk.