Breaking Down the 2022-23 Celtics Schedule

It’s time to mark your calendars, folks. The 2022-23 NBA schedule has been released.

To no surprise, the reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Boston Celtics, are a team the league has highlighted across the calendar. That’s what happens when you have the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and when you maintain the roster that came within two wins of a title while adding impact players like Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari.

So let’s dive in and take a look at what this schedule has to offer. Throw on your reading glasses, and prepare to take notes and set some reminders; it’s time to plan your schedule around another pursuit of Banner 18.

The Celtics are playing on or around every major national holiday this regular season. The list includes Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Easter.

The holiday fun begins with two matchups that are sandwiched around Thanksgiving. First, the C’s will host Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN Nov. 23, the night before Thanksgiving. Then, they’ll host De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and the Kings at 8 p.m. the night after Thanksgiving.

Boston will play on Christmas for the seventh consecutive year, this time hosting Giannis Antetokoumpo and the Bucks at 5 p.m. This is the second straight season the two teams will meet on Christmas.

The Celtics wrap up their holiday games with a road tilt against the Chicago Bulls at 2 p.m. on MLK Day (Jan. 16), and with a regular-season finale at 1 p.m. on Easter (April 9) against the Hawks.

Boston is slated to play 24 games across the league’s national broadcast channels, ABC, ESPN and TNT. Eleven of those matchups will be played on ESPN, eight will be played on TNT, and five will be played on ABC.

The first national TV game arrives on Opening Night, when the C’s will play host to the 76ers at 7:30 p.m. on TNT. All four Celtics-Sixers games this season will be played in front of national TV audience.

A Finals rematch between the Celtics and the Warriors will be broadcasted nationally on Dec. 10 on ABC. And everyone wants to know when the Celtics and Lakers meet, so here you go: Dec. 13 on TNT from LA, and Jan. 28 on ABC from TD Garden.

The number of back-to-backs on Boston’s schedule this season is 13, which is a decrease of two from the previous season. That’s a good thing for the Celtics. Another good thing is that of the 13 games on the back end of back-to-backs, only six will be played against teams that made the Playoffs last season.

At the other end of the spectrum is the fact that eight of the 13 games played on the front end of back-to-backs will be played against teams that qualified for last season’s Playoffs. Additionally, five of the back-to-backs will be played entirely on the road, including two straight games against the LA teams on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13, first against the Clippers, and then against the Lakers.

Celtics season ticket members will get a heavy dose of live game action during the latter half of December. Boston will play seven straight games at TD Garden from Dec. 16 through Dec. 29, marking their longest homestand with all games being played at the home arena since January of 1980, per the team’s PR department. (The team had seven-game homestands in 1986 and 1993, but each of those included a game played in Hartford, CT.)

This season’s seven-gamer includes consecutive home games against the Orlando Magic on Dec. 16 and Dec. 18, and it ends with a matchup against Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers on Dec. 29. Surprisingly, the C’s also have a six-game homestand spanning from Nov. 23 to Dec. 2.

The unfortunate part of having two lengthy homestands is that you’re going to be hit with some lengthy road trips. Boston will play a six-game trip from Dec. 4 to Dec. 13, and then two separate five-game trips, one right after Opening Night from Oct. 21 to Oct. 28, and another from Nov. 23 to Nov. 30.

This schedule is extremely balanced in terms of monthly game loads. The team is scheduled to play 15 games during each of the four full months of the season (November, December, January and March). November marks the month with the most home games, with nine, while January marks the month with the most road games, with 10.

Boston will play seven games during the final two-ish weeks of October, it will play 11 games around the All-Star break during February, and it will play four during April before the postseason begins.

As always, there are a few quirks associated with Boston’s schedule., the first of which is playing the same team in consecutive games in the same city. This is a rare occurrence in the NBA, yet Boston will play this rare scenario out three times this season. The first instance will occur at home against Orlando on Dec. 16 and Dec. 18, the next will take place on Jan. 14 and Jan. 16 in Charlotte against the Hornets, and the last will unfold on April 5 and April 7 at home against Toronto.

Thursday is Boston’s lightest game day of the season, as it will play on only seven of the season’s 25 Thursdays. Interestingly, though, they’ll play on all four Thursdays during January, including three straight to start the month against Dallas on Jan. 5, Brooklyn on Jan. 12, and Golden State on Jan. 19. All three of those games will be broadcast on TNT.