Gary Washburn

The roster is nearly the same, and their two stars — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — come in with plenty of personal motivation after a strange summer with USA Basketball.

Tatum said he’s still in disbelief that he’s entering Year 8 in the NBA.

While the Celtics are the favorites to emerge again from the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference is more complex because there are no elite teams, just a group of high-quality clubs.

There will need to be a major roster overhaul over the next four seasons given the advancing age of the top players on the 2024 squad.

The league did not televise the game nationally, despite a soldout Garden, limiting the chance to reach an even wider audience.

The inclusion of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Joel Embiid basically pushed Tatum to the bench.

In three years, South Sudan went from making its debut at the African FIBA tournament to the Olympic Games, while led by a longtime NBA assistant seeking his chance to lead his own team.

The former Celtic is now a member of the front office of the Jazz.

This is the first summer the Celtics have been affected by repercussions from the second apron of the salary cap.

Anton Watson and Jahmi’us Ramsey each scored 15 points while Jaelen House helped with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 16-plus minutes.