Ray Allen, center, and Celtics teammates gather after the team's workout in Waltham, Mass., on Monday. Boston opens its season Tuesday night at Cleveland.

AP photo / Steven Senne

BOSTON – The Celtics plan on winning the NBA title this year.

Anything short of that would be considered a huge disappointment to them.

“We know what our expectations are and that’s each and every year, to win a championship,” Celtics captain Paul Pierce said. “It gets no higher than that.”

“Other than winning a world championship, I don’t know what other expectations you can have, and that’s our expectation,” coach Doc Rivers said. “It was that two years ago. It was that last year and it is that this year.”

“Right now everybody knows what our goal is,” Celtics guard Eddie House said. “We don’t have to talk about it. We just have to go out and do our job.”

The Celtics have all the pieces in place to capture their 18th world title, and they even raised a blank banner next to their 2008 championship one inside their training facility at HealthPoint in Waltham, Mass., to use as extra motivation this season.

“We have to fill it in,” Pierce said.

“We want to be better than two years ago,” House said. “Two years ago we won the championship, and the only way to be better than that team is to win the championship.”

How good do the Celtics think they are?

Rasheed Wallace went on record that the Celtics can surpass the record for most wins in a season, which is 72 and was set by the 1995 world champion Chicago Bulls.

The Celtics won a league-best 66 games during their 2008 championship season and 62 games last year.

“When we were a healthy team last year we were on a record-breaking pace,” Pierce said.

Rivers said that the Celtics have the talent to put forth the best defense that the NBA has ever seen.

Much of the Celtics success depends on their health. Garnett is returning from the first major injury of his career (right knee surgery) and he has been battling shin and calf pain all preseason.

He did still manage to lead the Celtics in points this preseason (12.7) while averaging 6 rebounds per game and shooting 55.9 percent from the floor.

“He was great,” Rivers said of Garnett’s preseason performances. “I’m very happy where Kevin is at.”

“He’s moving well and he’s even taken a couple of blows to the spot where he had the surgery and he bounced back up,” House said. “It was kind of like the Tom Brady effect. At first he was kind of ginger. He didn’t know until he got hit a couple of times and then it’s ‘O.K., I can plant. I can throw.’ It’s like Kevin. Now he can catch lobs, is planting with step-backs. He’s doing everything that Kevin Garnett does.”

With Garnett, the Celtics allowed 88.8 points per game in the 2008 playoffs. Without their defensive and motivational leader in the 2009 postseason, the Celtics allowed teams to average 102.1 points.

The Celtics’ age could be a factor, although players say it won’t be.

Wallace is 35, Allen is 34, Garnett is 33, and Pierce is 31.

“If you tell me I’m getting too old, then give me the ball and let’s see what happens,” Allen said.

Rivers said that he would like to monitor his starters’ minutes so that they don’t get injured, but he also said he wants them to play between 32 and 37 minutes a game so they don’t get rusty.

Last season began with a championship banner being raised to the rafters – a sight that hadn’t been seen in Boston for more than 20 years.

And with the core of their championship squad still intact, the Celtics were ready and willing to do it again.

They quickly put to rest the biggest question in the offseason – were they hungry again – by beginning the season with an NBA record 27-2 start over their first 29 games, at one point winning a franchise-record 19 straight.

It seemed as if they could do no wrong. Many thought they were unstoppable. But their worst nightmare came true on Feb. 19, when Garnett injured his right knee in a game against Utah.

Garnett would return for four more games, but realized on March 25 in Orlando that he was too injured to finish the season. The Celtics tried to fill his big shoes by promoting Glen Davis into a starting role and bringing in 7-foot center Mikki Moore and guard Stephon Marbury, and even though they still managed to win 62 games without Garnett for most of the second half of the season, it wasn’t enough.

After beating the Chicago Bulls in seven games in one of the most exciting playoff series of all-time, the Celtics fell to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semifinals in seven games with Garnett and Leon Powe watching from the sidelines.

The Celtics solidified their bench in the offseason by signing Wallace, Marquis Daniels, and Shelden Williams, and re-signing Davis, and with their starting five back with a seemingly healthy Garnett, the Celtics plan on winning the NBA title once again this season.

Like the Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic all got better in the offseason and have their sights set on winning the NBA title.

The Celtics begin their quest for banner No. 18 Tuesday night in Cleveland.

“I have total confidence in this ball club,” Pierce said. “I just know that if we are healthy, [winning the title] is going to happen.”

roblee@projo.com