NBA

Celtics aim for successful title defense

The 79th NBA season starts on Wednesday night (1:30 a.m.) with the top game between the defending champion Boston Celtics and the co-favorite New York Knicks. Led by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics are aiming for their 19th title in the world's best basketball league, which would extend the record champions' lead over the Los Angeles Lakers (17) with former champion LeBron James. The 39-year-old will be starting his 22nd season.

In this season, "King James" will be on the court for the first time with his son LeBron James junior, known as Bronny, and thus write a piece of sporting history. The 20-year-old was selected in the second round of the draft after suffering a cardiac arrest in the summer of 2023. Now the guard wants to prove himself alongside his father in the NBA. The Lakers around the James duo and Anthony Davis are challenged in the second game of the opening night (4:00) against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Thompson with the Mavs
However, James and Co. are not among the top favorites for the title. In addition to the Celtics, the Denver Nuggets with superstar Nikola Jokic should be mentioned in this regard. However, they can expect much more resistance in the Western Conference from the Dallas Mavericks, the previous season's finalists, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Precision thrower Stephen Curry lost his long-time team-mate Klay Thompson to the Golden State Warriors, who was traded to the Mavericks for Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in July.

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics will probably have to watch out for the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks with their exceptional player Giannis Antetokounmpo, as they did in the previous season. The Philadelphia 76ers, on the other hand, will be without injured new signing Paul George for the start of the season. Teammate Joel Embiid, meanwhile, has announced that he will take several breaks to manage his workload.

Jakob Pöltl is still the only Austrian in the league; the 29-year-old center is starting his ninth NBA season with the Toronto Raptors. However, the Canadians are outsiders in the battle for a play-off place in the 82-game basic round.