After a long few months without basketball, the NBA was back in action on Monday night, showcasing new faces and old friends.  

The Boston Celtics were slated to play the Philadelphia 76ers, a team with its own woes to worry about, as their pre-season opener in Boston.  The Celtics got off to a bumpy start, as newly re-signed shooting guard Avery Bradley threw up nothing but bricks for majority of the game. He finished with 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field.  The Sixers were off to a hot start, as guard Hollis Thompson was hot early and kept the Celtics from getting close.

The rest of the game was a different story entirely. The Celtics settled down and pushed the pace, forcing missed shots by the 76ers and standing their ground defensively.  Rookie Marcus Smart took on the roll as point guard and while his stat line is not the most impressive (Smart finished with two points and six assists), his defense stood tall. Smart carried the C's defensively at times and applied pressure as needed, living up to all the hype about his abilities as a defensive prowler.

Nerlens Noel made his first NBA appearance in this game, he finished with four points and was a minus-9 overall for the game. There's potential in Noel's game, but it'll take some time as he will eventually get his bearings under him and be a very good NBA player.  

After a close first half, the Celtics blew the second half wide open and eventually won the game by 20 points, not a bad showing for Brad Stevens' young club. The standout of the night was by far Evan Turner, the former number 2 overall pick by Philadelphia back in the 2010 NBA Draft. Turner has bounced around since then and ended his season last year in Indiana with less than stellar numbers. The 25-year-old looks to re-generate his career with a fresh start with the green, and he's off to quite the campaign. Turner logged 15 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists during Monday night's matchup.  While it's only the first game and it came against a Sixers club that's still trying to figure out who they are, it's an encouraging sign that Danny Ainge may have gotten a steal this summer.  

Both teams looked bumpy, it's pre-season after all. However, there seems to be more talent on this Boston team than there was last season. Danny Ainge has added pieces that will be more helpful than anything else down the road, and with All-Star Rajon Rondo slated to come back, the Celtics look like they could be in pretty good shape this season.