The Celtics title defense will kick officially in just over two months after the NBA released the full regular season schedule on Thursday. 80 of the team’s 82 regular season games have been announced with two additional games set to be announced during the week of December 8th after NBA Cup pool play is completed. Boston will kick off their season with a ring night on October 22nd at TD Garden against the Knicks after four preseason contests in October.
What type of impact does the schedule have on the season for Boston and their chances of repeating? Let’s explore some takeaways from the slate that will have Joe Mazzulla and his staff hard at work mapping out the year.
A manageable start without Kristaps Porzingis: The Celtics are expected to be without their starting center until at least December as he recovers from offseason leg surgery. The schedule is set up well for Boston to be able to manage that absence well out of the gate without taking too big of a hit in the win-loss column. The Celtics only have two tough road games in October and November (at Milwaukee, at Indiana) and just one long road trip (four games) before 2025. That should help the team stay near the top of the Eastern Conference early without leaning too heavily on Al Horford against top-tier opponents. With plenty of subpar road opponents early, this setup is a welcome sign for Joe Mazzulla to ensure there’s no need to rush Kristaps Porzingis back to the fold quickly amid his recovery.
January looks unforgiving: One tough Western Conference road swing in a month can be challenging enough in the midst of a regular season month. Boston is set to deal with two in just four weeks during the start of the new year. January will begin with a four-game road swing across the middle of the country including three contenders (Minnesota, Houston, Oklahoma City and Denver). That could be Boston’s toughest road opponents of the year but it’s followed up with a brutal four games in six nights sequences against the Warriors, Lakers, Clippers and capped off against an NBA Finals rematch. With 10 of the team’s 15 games that month, this will be a huge litmus test of the squad, especially with just one of those road games coming in the Eastern time zone.
Say goodbye to Boston in late March: The Celtics will play just one game at TD Garden in the last 19 days of March, setting the stage for eight road games in three weeks including a season-long six-game road trip. The level of difficulty on this odyssey won’t be nearly as bad as January’s slate with some rebuilding squads mixed in (Utah, San Antonio, Portland) but this will be a long grind for a squad coming into the home stretch of the regular season. The Celtics got their work done early in the standings last year as they cruised to the top seed in March and they would be well served to take a similar route this year to save energy amid a 10-day road swing through three different time zones.
A soft landing in April: The Celtics close out the regular season with back-to-back home games against the Hornets, adding a bit of a cushion if those contests are of any consequence in the standings. With just one back-to-back in April, Boston is poised to be able to load manage their veterans well heading into the playoff grind.
