Celtics crush Cleveland with stars resting — Atlantic Division roundup

Boston set the early tone in the Atlantic Division on Thursday night. The Celtics went into Cleveland and came out with a 124-113 win despite resting their top seven rotation players. Hoops Rumors notes that Boston built its cushion with an explosive first half, putting up 71 points before the break and grabbing 21 offensive rebounds in their preseason opener on the road.

The other game involving the division saw the Brooklyn Nets outlast the Philadelphia 76ers, 114-108. Brooklyn remains perfect at 2-0 atop the Atlantic standings, while Philadelphia drops to 1-1.

Celtics’ depth makes an early statement

Winning 124-113 in Cleveland while sitting seven projected core players puts Boston’s depth front and center. With 71 first-half points and a 21-board haul on the offensive glass, according to Hoops Rumors, the Celtics’ supporting cast made the most of its opportunity to impress before the regular season tips off. Boston opens its preseason slate at 1-0 within the Atlantic.

Nets stay unbeaten and keep tweaking

Behind their 114-108 victory over the Sixers, the Nets improve to 2-0 and hold the early divisional lead. Hoops Rumors also includes Brooklyn in a rundown of minor roster moves, in a piece that details a flurry of end-of-bench transactions by the Miami Heat. While the specifics on the Nets’ side aren’t laid out in the snippet, the message is that Brooklyn continues to fine-tune the bottom of its roster while the wins keep coming.

Questions for 76ers, Knicks and Raptors

For the 76ers (1-1), Thursday’s loss to Brooklyn comes as CBS Sports is already digging into a depth issue at center. The outlet explores the possibility of using LeBron James at the five to help Philadelphia cover that hole after their backup center was injured in the preseason opener, underscoring how central that spot could become to their season.

In New York, the Knicks (0-2) were idle, but the news cycle stayed busy. Hoops Rumors reports that Mikal Bridges faced significant scrutiny from Knicks fans over his first two seasons in town after the franchise paid a steep price — five first-round picks — to acquire him from Brooklyn in 2024. That conversation has shifted after the Knicks’ championship run in June, which quieted many of his critics. On top of that, CBS Sports projects New York to have the league’s No. 1 offense in 2026-27, with the Los Angeles Lakers and Celtics also landing in the top five offensively.

The Toronto Raptors (0-1) didn’t play, but they surfaced in two Hoops Rumors roundups: an Atlantic-focused notes column that also mentions the Celtics, 76ers and Barrett, and a summary of John Hollinger’s piece on 10 under-the-radar players who could swing their teams’ seasons. The specific Raptors name isn’t included in the snippet, but their presence in that conversation hints at at least one potential X-factor on the roster.