It was an emotional night at TD Garden as the Celtics raised Banner 18
The Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA Finals last season, giving them a record 18 championships. One trophy they didn't win was the NBA Cup, previously known as the in-season tournament.
The Celtics will continue their quest for the franchise's first NBA Cup title on Tuesday. One fun aspect of the tournament that is returning for Year 2 is the special courts for each team.
Boston's court, as you might expect, features a whole lot of green. The NBA Cup Trophy is also present at center court and in the paint at both ends of the floor.
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Here's a look at the TD Garden floor layout for this year's tournament, via the Celtics.
First look at our NBA Cup court 👀☘️ pic.twitter.com/tctsAg013s
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 24, 2024
The reason for using a different court is simple -- it helps people understand that these games are not just normal regular season matchups.
Overall, the unique NBA Cup courts are pretty awesome. Sure, some of them could use a few tweaks, but for the most part they are well done. Many of them remind fans of the very colorful courts used by many teams throughout the 1990s.
Group stage play for the NBA Cup begins this month. The Celtics will play four games, beginning with the Atlanta Hawks coming to Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 12 (tip-off at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston). The C's also will host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 19, before wrapping group play on the road versus the Washington Wizards on Nov. 22 and the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 29.
If the Celtics make the knockout stages of the NBA Cup, the quarterfinals will be played on Dec. 10-11, the semifinals will be Dec. 14 and the championship game will be Dec. 17.
