#preseason

#preseason

Few outside of Australia have heard of Mandurah or Bunbury, and they're not exactly the most heralded of places among Australians. But it was here where the latest chapter of Juan Mata's career began. A journey that had taken the 37-year-old to winning a World Cup with Spain, the Champions League with Chelsea, and an FA Cup with Manchester United had now arrived at a training camp with his new side, Melbourne Victory, in two small towns on the West Australian coast.

Fans at Scotiabank Arena and at home - those who weren't locked in on the Toronto Blue Jays' unfortunate Game 5 collapse - got to see a bit of everything from the Raptors, who were led by Scottie Barnes' all-around effort. The fifth-year forward finished with a team-high 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.

Will Riley was selected with the No. 21 overall pick in the first round of the NBA Draft this offseason. Overshadowed by the selection of Tre Johnson, who was picked with the No. 6 overall pick, Riley hasn't be talked about nearly enough entering the season; at least not in terms of players who could be poised for a breakout rookie season.

Wednesday's game provided us with our first look at a new era of Celtics basketball, and in a very encouraging turn of events, their first game sans Jayson Tatum (temporarily) as well as Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet (permanently), the Celtics offered fans some much needed catharsis. The last time we saw the Celtics, they were run off the floor in

"That's the first thing I noticed when he came into our practices," Roy said. "I was like, 'Oh, wow. Mathieu was talking a lot about his shot when we were talking about trading with Montreal."

"aliaksei is smiling,"

"It happened last game early and just ended up not going away by the end," Lee said. "I woke up with some discomfort, so it's just maintenance. It's progressing fine, nothing to worry about. Hopefully I can take that red thing off for the next practice."

It is one of those preseason games. Montreal worked hard and played a simple game. We kind of complicated things at times. That is what you get sometimes in preseason games. They are. It lacks intensity. That can drive a coach bananas, but I understand. There was some good stuff, too. I was happy with some of it. I look for structure stuff. I look for routes, and things like that - our systems.