NBA unveils special courts for in-season tournament, including a new floor at TD Garden
BOSTON -- Celtics fans will see their team play on something other than the famous parquet floor at TD Garden when the NBA's inaugural in-season tournament tips off in the near future.
It will be a bit jarring, but it will be OK. Just be prepared to adjust your eyes come Nov. 10.
The NBA is really going all-in on its first-ever in-season tournament this year. In hopes of making it easier for fans to differentiate between just your average regular season game and a thrilling, can't-miss-it in-season tournament tilt, the league is making every team play on special, redesigned floors for the tourney.
Those fancy floors were revealed on Monday, including the floor the Celtics will play on for in-season tournament games at TD Garden.
Hey, at least it's green, and a pretty nice green at that. And compared to some of the other, more colorful and extravagant floors that were unveiled Monday (looking at you, New Orleans), Boston's is pretty tame. The floor, while wildly different than what we're used to in Boston, remains pretty traditional for the Celtics with a nice parquet strip down the middle.
The NBA provided the template for teams over the summer, with a giant in-season tournament trophy at center court with the team's logo in the middle. The color scheme used is linked to each team's City Edition uniforms.
The Celtics will open their group play portion of the in-season tournament on Nov. 10 against the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden, followed by road games against the Toronto Raptors (Nov. 17) and the Orlando Magic (Nov. 24). Group play will conclude on Nov. 28 in Boston against the Chicago Bulls. The knockout round of the in-season tournament will follow on Dec. 4 or 5, with the Semifinals and Finals held in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 9, respectively.