Ten takeaways from Boston’s preseason opener

1. The Celtics are back. Life is good.

We survived. Despite this being the shortest offseason possible with a Finals victory, Summer League and Olympic appearances, this Celtics hiatus still felt far too long. The champs have returned though, and all is right in the world again.

It wasn’t their finest performance by any means. There was your standard preseason sloppiness combined with something that resembled a bricklaying competition. Regardless, I enjoyed every moment of it.

2. Kornet is the starter, but Tillman brought some juice.

With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined, and Al Horford taking the day off, it was Luke Kornet that got the nod as the starting center. He joined Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the opening lineup.

This configuration is what we should expect to see on Horford’s rest nights, but in typical preseason fashion, they got off to a bumpy start. Great flashes of ball movement weren’t capitalized on as the Celtics starters shot a combined 3/13 from 3 in the 1st quarter.

Xavier Tillman checked in for Kornet with around six minutes left in Q1. X didn’t exactly spark the offense, but his defense and overall presence was steadying. He picked up a few deflections and made Jokic work a bit harder, which is about all you can ask.

The big question mark for Tillman this season is where he fits into the scheme offensively. Whether it’s as a screener or a floor spacer, the Celtics will need to find ways to maximize his ability. What if the jump shot is real though? That could change things drastically. I’ll take it easy on the preseason overreactions, but knocking down two corner 3’s is enough to give us hope.

3. Jaylen Brown’s underwater workouts are paying off.

With under two minutes left in the 1st quarter, Brown’s freakish athleticism was put on display.

In full pursuit of the ball, he explodes off of the ground and aggressively stamps the layup attempt off of the backboard. Moments later he connects with Tillman on a cut and detonates on the rim.

Jaylen has always had the tools to be a world-class defender, but last year’s playoff run was the start of a real elevation to that level. If he’s able to build off that with the numbers to back it up, an All-Defensive…