WALTHAM, Mass. -- Boston Celtics swingman Evan Turner celebrated his 27th birthday Tuesday, but it was more than just a birthday.

"Today is my golden birthday. I don’t know if y’all know what that is, but I’m 27 on the 27th," explained Turner, referencing how a person turns the same age as their birth date. "I first found out about a golden birthday when I was 8. You go to school and it could be a kid’s birthday on like Nov. 8, he turns 8. So when he told us what it was I was like, 'I’m gonna be 27 before it becomes my golden birthday and it won’t be that cool and nobody will care anymore.' So, I finally got here and I’m blessed to have gotten here. I’ve really been looking forward to this golden birthday for, like, 19 or 20 years."

So, any big plans for the golden birthday, Evan?

"I’m just gonna sit at home, chill with my brothers and my mom. Keep it legal, you know? So that’s it. Nothing too much," he said.

But, it's your golden birthday!

"I don’t even really like birthdays -- for real, for real. Honestly, not to like go too deep into it or be a hipster about it, but if you’re gonna be nice to me one day a year, my life sucks," Turner said. "So I take great pride in the other 364 days of the year and I’ve been fortunate enough where I’ve had a lot of great days, so my birthday doesn’t really highlight it.

"It’s cool because I get, like, gifts. People don’t buy rich people stuff. Like, everybody can afford underwear and socks and, like, stuff I don’t like buying, like deodorant and stuff. So I get loaded up on that and look forward to that -- for real, for real. And T-shirts and stuff."

The Celtics often make their rookies sing happy birthday to those that celebrate early in the new NBA calendar year, but Turner was planning to let them off the hook.

"I don’t know if I’m gonna make them sing. They’re actually my friends; I like them," Turner said. "The best gift I probably ever got, [Michael Jordan] was one of my favorite athletes. My girlfriend at the time, she’d got me pretty much every Michael Jordan magazines and got them autographed by him. So she always made sure I had a decently great birthday. So that’s really nice of her. That meant a lot, too. My mom gave me life, so that’s it."

Turning back to basketball, Turner said he's excited for the Celtics to get the 2015-16 regular season started on Wednesday night.

"I think [the team's mental state is] great. I think we’re all on the same page, we’re all devoted to the mission of getting better and climbing that ladder, in a certain sense," he said. "We know we have a lot more work to do in order to be better and play to our standards. ... I think we’ll get there."

Some other notes from Tuesday's practice session:

• Celtics coach Brad Stevens knows practice time will become thin moving into the regular season and he was hoping to maximize Tuesday's session. "We need to have a good practice today and finish up kind of preparing. And then it all gets going," he said. "Not only the one game [Wednesday versus the 76ers], just you get into a rhythm of playing mostly every other night, sometimes back-to-back, and just trying to balance the right amount of practice with the right amount of [rest]. ... I think one of the things that’s obvious is the majority of your practices are now in the past, or the majority of your time to practice. So hopefully you’ve maximized that. I feel good about that. I feel good about where we are. At the same time, now we have to go out and do it."

• Where do the Celtics stand on the eve of a new season? "I think we’re in great shape," newcomer David Lee said. "There’s always still a little bit of rounding -- I won’t say into shape, because it’s not necessarily a cardio thing. But there’s still a little bit of an adjustment when you get into real games, there’s a different level of play than it is in the preseason. But every team has to go through that. I think starting at home is going to be a good thing for us having a young team. Having the crowd behind us these first couple of games and playing some good teams these first three games, we just gotta go out there and put our best foot forward and be ready to go."

• Stevens on what he thought were Boston's biggest preseason improvements: "One of the things I really like is that when we focus on something we usually improve it. Now the key is to be able to focus on something and keep everything else at the same level. So we’ve got to do a much better job handling the ball than we did. We had a good half-court defense once it got set. We’ve got to be better in transition. We’ve got to be always looking for better shots even though we played pretty decent offense. And then hopefully we can sustain an effort level that is equal to or better [than the opponent] on most nights. And so that’s a challenge. It’s easier said than done."

• The Celtics had full participation from their 15-man roster at Tuesday's practice. Kelly Olynyk, suspended for Wednesday's season opener, ran with the black-clad third team that also included rookies R.J. Hunter and Jordan Mickey, and second-year swingman James Young. Boston is expected to trot out a starting lineup that features Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Lee, and Tyler Zeller. The bench unit will feature Isaiah Thomas, Turner, Amir Johnson and Jared Sullinger (at least until Olynyk returns). Pledging to stick with a 10-man rotation, it will be interesting to see if Stevens utilizes rookie guard Terry Rozier and/or Jonas Jerebko off the bench as well on opening night.