From Rome to Spain to Worcester, the history of Boston’s neutral site preseason games

The Boston Celtics are beginning their preseason today with games in Abu Dhabi against the Denver Nuggets. What you may not know is that this is the first time since the 2016-17 season that the Celtics are playing a preseason game away from an NBA stadium.

Before the NBA changed the preseason schedule to four games in the 2017-18 season, the Celtics used to play in arenas not only all over New England, but all over the world.

1988 McDonalds Open, Madrid, Spain

The first time the Celtics ever went overseas to play a preseason game was in 1988 when they were part of the second annual McDonalds Open. The McDonalds Open had four of the best teams from all over the world competing in a mini tournament at Palacio de los Deportes in Madrid, Spain.

The Celtics were representing the NBA in this tournament after the Milwaukee Bucks won the first McDonalds Open in 1987. Boston would be facing off against Real Madrid of Spain who was the host club, Scavolini Pesaro of Italy who were the champions of the 1987-88 Serie A of the LBA, and Yugoslavia who just finished with a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics.

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Boston would make quick work of Yugoslavia in the semifinals of the tournament 113-85, as Larry Bird dropped 27 points to lead the Celtics to the win. Kevin McHale would also score 21 points, 4 blocks, and 11 rebounds and Robert Parish would have 20 points and 15 rebounds. For Yugoslavia, future Celtics player Dino Radja would have 15 points and Chicago Bulls legend Tony Kukoc would have 17 points.

The final matchup for the Celtics would be against Real Madrid. It was no easy task as future Hall of Famer Drazen Petrovic was a problem for the Celtics with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. However, behind Larry Bird’s 29 points, 12 assists, and 6 rebounds the Celtics would go on to win the game and the tournament as Bird was named the MVP of the 1988 McDonalds Open.

2007, Pallazetto dello Sport, Rome, Italy

Before the 2007-08 season, the Boston Celtics made two trades that would not only change the course Celtics history, but basketball history forever.

On June 28th, they traded Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, and the fifth pick in the 2007 Draft for Ray Allen. On July 31st, they traded Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratlif, a 2009 1st round pick, and Minnesota’s 2009 1st round pick to the Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett. Pairing Allen and Garnett alongside star Paul Pierce, the Celtics would form The Big 3.

To begin their reign of terror, the NBA had them join the 2007 NBA Europe Live Tour where the Celtics played the Toronto Raptors in Rome, Italy. The Celtics, decked out in green jerseys which had “Boston” in the colors of the Italian flag, beat the Raptors 89-85. The Big 3 would combine for 50 points with Paul Pierce leading the way with 21 points, Kevin Garnett had 19, and Ray Allen had 10.

2007, DCU Center, Worcester, MA

The 2007-08 Celtics would also play the New Jersey Nets on October 19th at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Over 10,000 people packed the DCU Center that night to witness the Big 3 Celtics in action. Unfortunately, the game in Worcester didn’t go as planned.

At halftime, the score was 36-33 Celtics and the remainder of the game had to be canceled as condensation from the ice rink underneath the court made the floor too slippery to play on. As a consolation, the Celtics offered an autograph session with the players for the fans, but that had to be stopped after 20 minutes because every person in the arena swarmed the court.

2012, Ulker Sports Arena, Istanbul, Turkey

The Celtics record against international competition is 5-1 with the one loss on their resume against Fenerbahce Istanbul of Turkey. On October 5th, 2012, the Celtics took a trip to Istanbul for the first preseason game of the 2012-13 season. Little did Boston know that Fenerbahce Ulker came to play.

Fenerbahce took the lead early and seemingly never looked back. Even in the 4th quarter when Jeff Green cut the deficit to 3, Romain Sato hit a dagger corner three with under a minute to go pushing the lead back up to 6. The final score was 97-91.

Romain Sato, who was taken with the 52nd pick of the 2004 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs, led Fenerbahce with 24 points and 7 rebounds on 8-15 shooting from the field and 4-4 from three-point range. Bojan Bogdanovic was also part of that Fenerbahce team after being drafted in the 2011 NBA Draft, he would have 11 points on 4-11 shooting off the bench in this game. For the Celtics, Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger would lead the Celtics in scoring with 16 points a piece as Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett would combine for only 14 points. The Celtics then took off to Italy where they would crush Olimpia Milano 105-75.

2010, 2013, SNHU Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire

The Celtics would play many preseason games in Manchester, NH over the years. One of the earliest was in the 2010-2011 preseason when the Celtics would face off against the Philadelphia 76ers. This was the Celtics debut for Shaquille O’Neal.

Another notable game in Manchester was on October 12th, 2013 in the 2013-14 season when the Celtics took on the New York Knicks. Boston started out 0-3 in this preseason but was able to beat the Knicks for not only their first win, but the first professional win for Brad Stevens in his Celtics coaching career. Rookie Kelly Olynyk led the way with 15 points as Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford dropped 13 points in the 111-81 win.

2014, Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, Maine

In 2009, the D-League approved the city of Portland, Maine as a new expansion team named the Maine Red Claws. In 2012, the Celtics officially made the Red Claws their official D-League team.

The Celtics decided to schedule a preseason game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, ME on October 15th, 2014, making this the first NBA game held in Portland in 19 years. The Celtics went on to lose this game to the Raptors 92-89 as Marcus Thornton would be the Celtics leading scorer with 17 points but Toronto was able to pull away down the stretch.

Despite the loss, this was a great nod to the city of Portland and Maine Celtics, who are still the G-League affiliate of the Celtics and are still going strong recently. Last season, they made the G-League Finals.

2015, Barclaycard Center, Madrid, Spain

As a part of the NBA’s Global Games Europe 2015, the Boston Celtics faced off against Olimpia Milano and Real Madrid to begin the 2015 preseason. This would be the first time since the 1988 McDonalds Open that the Celtics would play Real Madrid. Looking back at the games there wasn’t much competition for the Celtics as they would win 124-91 vs Olimpia Milano and 111-96 vs Real Madrid.

One interesting note about the game in Madrid was the 16 year old kid for Real Madrid, scoring 1 point on 0-2 shooting in 16 minutes against the Celtics. That player was Luka Doncic who the Celtics faced and subsequently beat in the 2024 NBA Finals.

2016, Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

The 2016-17 season was the final time the Celtics played preseason games in different arenas. The first game was on October 4th, 2016 where they played the Philadelphia 76ers at the Mullins Center on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

UMass Amherst would be the home for two Celtics debuts: Jaylen Brown and Al Horford.

Jaylen Brown was the 3rd pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and had a solid debut in this game. In 21 minutes, he would drop 8 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds on 4-9 shooting from the field.

Al Horford would also make his Celtics debut in this game after signing a 4-year, $113 million contract with Boston in the offseason. Horford would start the game and drop 8 points and 8 rebounds on 4-8 shooting in 15 minutes.