XL Center Gets Celtic Pride for One Night

By JASON HENDRY

Updated 3:01 PM EST, Tue, Oct 13, 2009

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Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish will not be walking through these doors. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett will be though.

For the first time in more than a decade and a half, the Boston Celtics will be playing a basketball game in Hartford, a pre-season game, but a game nonetheless.

The Celtics “welcome in” the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday for a game on the court that was once the team’s home away from home for 20 seasons. The great news: tickets are still available. Great seats too. Prices range from as little as $15 to as high as $125.

From 1975 to 1995, the Celtics played 66 regular season games at what was once called (and still is to the old schoolers) the Civic Center, with the last contest on April 15, 1995. It was quite a “home” court advantage too, posting a record of 46-20.

The Mall played host to the Celtics team of the '80s, letting regular folks watch their hardwood heroes when getting a ticket to the Boston Garden was nearly impossible. The fans in Hartford were able to witness greatness up close as Larry Bird and company played 40 games here, winning 31 of those. They were also rewarded with a “Larry Bird Night” in 1993 to thank the player who had provided so many memories. The Celtics great had his number 33 raised to the rafters of the Civic Center that night.

In fact, one of the Larry Legend’s greatest shots happened at the Civic Center. A behind the backboard lob that found nothing but net. Wanna see it? Just go to YouTube and type in “Larry Bird behind the backboard shot.”

Will we see more magic like that in a few weeks? Probably not, but the action should be fantastic. The Celtics have a loaded roster hungry to get back to their championship form. This game on the 14^th is merely a first step toward a greater goal -- a goal in which we can say included a stop in Hartford.