I think what they are trying to accomplish is to challenge the Celtics to go to Greece and play. Also in the past when several NBA teams went to Europe for friendlies, FIBA rules, absences and not being prepared at all since it was always at the start of the preparation period for them led them to lose several matches. So if the Celtics go in late August/early September without the USA team trio that may still be resting, without much training before that and lacking motivation (though Mazzulla has proven to be a hard working coach focusing on each opponent separately). There were a dozen of times that the European side won in the past especially when playing at home (and almost a hundred I guess that the NBA team won).