Schedule

Marc D'Amico

As NBA marketing and content teams know better than anyone else, there’s always a schedule for the schedule.

Like clockwork, each and every August, the time comes for these groups to execute on the idea they’ve been preparing to bring to life all summer. It is the NBA’s schedule release – the first opportunity for each franchise to tell its fans when and where they’ll be able to catch their favorite team in person.

Naturally, every team wants to deliver the information in a way that’s memorable, impactful and entertaining. That’s why the Celtics’ marketing and content teams began working on their plans way back in mid-June.

Over the course of the ensuing weeks and months, one idea rose above the rest to hit production. The problem was, bringing it to life was a bit complicated.

The team wanted to highlight its marquee matchups by placing customized embroidery on hats. While the Celtics are especially experienced in making jerseys, the creation of hats – especially on a tight timeline – was a foreign process. So they enlisted some help.

Enter Brad Czarnowski of AWOL Print Shop, and designer Aidan Marshall.

Czarnowski’s print shop is located in Waltham, Mass., where the Celtics had practiced for 29 years from 1999-2018. It felt to him like a match made in heaven.

“It was exciting when they reached out!” he told Celtics.com.&nbsp;“It was a kind of a full-circle moment for me.&nbsp; Growing up in the city where the team practiced for many years, it's surreal having the opportunity to work with the team which I love and grew up watching.”

Czarnowski liked the idea that the team brought to him but knew the project would require the right artist to create the right design. As he says, “If you don’t have good art, the results will show.”

Among his network, Czarnowski recommended one artist who was a perfect fit for the project: Marshall.

Marshall has worked with current and former Celtics players, including Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart, on some of their personal brand design needs. He was excited to join the team, and even more eager to be a part of a project that was unique.

“The idea they brought to me was exciting and something I haven’t done before,” Marshall said. “I am always up for doing something new and different, so this was a chance to get involved.”

So Marshall went to work on coming up with unique designs to represent the cities of Boston’s opponents. As any elite designer would, he wanted to think outside the box.

“Designing for the smaller cities was a learning curve, especially if I haven't been there,” he said. “I tried my best to find things locals would respect and not just do a skyline or something everyone else has done. All those cities have something to offer, so finding those things was a good challenge.”

Marshall went all-in on building most of the designs around each city’s nickname: City of Angels (Los Angeles), Windy City (Chicago), Alamo City (San Antonio), Cream City (Milwaukee), The Valley (Phoenix). The remaining opponents, Golden State, Miami and Philadelphia, received custom designs built around their most prominent landmarks.

This all may sound simple without the context of timing. The challenge for NBA teams creating content around their schedule release is that there isn’t much time to them around. In this particular case, there’s even less time to embroider the products.

Boston opened discussions with Czarnowski in early-August, and Marshall didn’t begin designing the artwork until about a week before the league was set to release its schedule. Marshall turned the designs around quickly, but the team wasn’t able to embroider the hats and capture the process on video until Aug. 14.

From that moment on, the project fell entirely on the shoulders of Boston’s video editors, who worked tirelessly over the following two days to edit the final version of the video.

While the entire process was hectic, Czarnowski and Marshall wouldn’t change it for the world. Getting the chance to work with their hometown team and to help the Celtics engage their fan base on one of the biggest days of the offseason was an experience they’ll never forget.

“Being able to know I had a part in creating something that people might appreciate, and then seeing it in real life, is the best feeling,” said Marshall.

Added Czarnowski, “My hometown team that I rooted for all my life, just shot a promo video in my shop.&nbsp; It's a reminder of how lucky we are and also how far we've come with the business.”

You can watch the full video at the following links:

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Celtics Team with Local Print Shop, Artist To Create Schedule Release Video

The Celtics went no cap for their schedule release video this season, highlighting eight of the top matchups on the calendar.

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2023-24 Schedule Release Video

Celtics Nation can’t wait to get another pursuit of Banner 18 underway. Finally, we now know what that pursuit is going to look like – at least in terms of a game schedule.

Boston’s schedule, along with those of the other 29 teams in the league, was released Thursday by the NBA and there is plenty to unpack. So, as we do each and every year, we’ve pulled all of the key information and relayed them to you as succinctly as possible below. Take a dive into the details!

Those who are looking forward to watching the Celtics on and around their holidays this upcoming season are in luck. Those who are looking forward to watching them at TD Garden? Not so much.

Boston will play the day before Thanksgiving (Bucks), the day after Thanksgiving (Orlando), on Christmas Day (Lakers), on New Year’s Eve (Spurs), and on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Raptors). Unfortunately, the only home game of that bunch is the Thanksgiving Eve matchup with Milwaukee. That Christmas Day matchup with the rival Lakers should make up for it, though!

The Celtics now know their schedule for the first-ever In-Season tournament. Their Group Play schedule is listed below:

The winner of this group gets an automatic bid into the Knockout Rounds, which begin Dec. 4. Should the C’s not win their group, they’d also have a chance to advance to the Knockout Rounds by earning one of the two available wild card spots.

The Celts may wind up on the national stage even more often this season than last season, and that’s saying something.

Twenty-four of their 80 scheduled games (30 percent) will be played in front of a national audience, which matches their total a season ago. Ten will be broadcast on ESPN, nine will be on TNT, and five will be on ABC.

Should the Celtics advance into the Knockout Rounds of the In-Season Tournament, their number of national TV games will climb to at least 25.

The Celtics will play 14 back-to-backs this season, up from 13 last season. The good news, however, is that they won’t need to travel for five of them.

Surprisingly, Boston will host five back-to-backs at TD Garden. That’s more such occurrences than their last three seasons combined (four).

The most intriguing back-to-back of the season might be when the Celtics take on the Warriors and Kings, who dueled in last season’s Western Conference Playoffs, on consecutive nights in December. The C’s will play the Warriors Dec. 19 in San Francisco, and the Kings Dec. 20 in Sacramento.

Boston’s longest homestand lasts nearly half a month. It spans seven games, arriving Jan. 27 and ending Feb. 9. The Celtics will host the Clippers, Pelicans, Pacers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Hawks and Wizards, in that order, during that stretch.

The longest road trip of the season will span six games and 11 days. It begins March 22 and ends April 1. Interestingly, the Celtics won’t venture very far west during the trip, as New Orleans is the Western-most city among the six destinations.

Here are a few other noteworthy items from the schedule:

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Every Detail of the 2023-24 Celtics Schedule

We’re officially 87 days away from the Boston Celtics playing their first-ever Group Play game for the NBA’s new In-Season Tournament. But, what exactly is the in-season tournament?

After years of discussion, the NBA finally went all-in on spicing up the regular season by implementing an additional tournament. This one will be played during the first half of the season, with Group Play games being played on Tuesdays and Fridays from Nov. 3 through Nov. 28, and a knockout tournament being played between Dec. 4 and Dec. 9. That final date, Dec. 9, will feature the Championship game, to be played in Las Vegas.

As has been well-documented, this tournament derives from that which has been utilized within European soccer. The goal is to drive a new level of excitement and interest during a period of the season which has grown to be a bit mundane.

The construction of the tournament is complicated and made up of three key elements: the Group Play Draw, the Group Play games, and the Knockout Rounds. Here’s how each of these three elements works.

The league has split its 30 teams into six groups of five teams (three groups from each conference). Each team will compete against the other four teams in its group to determine which team will advance in the tournament.

The six groups were randomly drawn based upon each team’s record from the 2022-23 regular season. Each group will feature one team that finished with one of the conference’s top three records last season, one team that finished with one of the fourth- through sixth-best records, one team that finished with one of the seventh- through ninth-best records, one team that finished with one of the 10th- through 12th-best records, and one team that finished with one of the 13th- through 15th-best records.

Boston’s group features themselves (third-best record), the Brooklyn Nets (sixth-best record), the Chicago Bulls (ninth-best record), the Toronto Raptors (tenth-best record), and the Orlando Magic (13th-best record).

We now have what the NBA is calling “Tournament Nights,” which will occur every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 3 through Nov. 28 (except on Election Day on Nov. 7). Every game played on these nights will be a Group Play game.

During this stretch, each team will play one game against the other four teams in its group. Two of those games will be at home, and two will be on the road. Each of these Group Play contests will count as one regular-season game.

At the conclusion of Group Play, the leading team from each group, plus two wild card teams, will advance to the Knockout Rounds. Tie-breakers will be decided by the following criteria, in sequential order:

Here is the schedule for Boston’s Group Play games:

And here comes the fun part: single-elimination basketball. The six Group winners, plus two wild card teams, will advance from the Group Play stage and enter into a win-or-go home tournament. The quarterfinals will be played Dec. 4 and Dec. 5. The four teams that win those games will move on to play in the semifinals Dec. 7 in Las Vegas. The two winners that emerge from those games will then meet Dec. 9 in the championship game, with the winner taking home the first-ever NBA Cup.

The 22 teams that did not advance to the Knockout Rounds will have regular-season games scheduled for Dec. 6 and Dec. 8.

It’s worth noting that the title game is the only game of the In-Season Tournament that will not count toward regular-season standings or toward regular-season team and player statistics.

In the end, here’s what you need to remember: All 30 teams enter Group Play, eight advance to the Knockout Rounds, four advance to the semifinals in Vegas, and one will stand tall as the inaugural winner of the NBA Cup. That’s the long and the short of it.

As for Boston’s involvement, remember that their Group Play opponents are the Nets, the Bulls, the Raptors and the Magic, and that their Group Play games will be played Nov. 10 (Brooklyn), Nov. 17 (Toronto), Nov. 24 (Orlando), and Nov. 28 (Chicago).

Oh, and also remember that the Boston Celtics have a penchant for logging firsts in NBA history, so don’t be surprised if they wind up hoisting that trophy on Dec. 9 in Vegas.

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In-Season Tourney Explainer, from Boston's Perspective

The first thing everyone does when the NBA schedule comes out is look for the spiciest games on the schedule. That’s great, but sometimes what’s missed are the fun matchups that fly under the radar.

Don’t worry: we’ve got you covered on this front. We perused the schedule and pulled our 10 most underrated games of the season, which you can find below in chronological order, along with a capsule on the opponent’s storylines.

We’re starting off with an early-season matchup against a team that was arguably the best in the league last season through the first week of January, before injuries ravaged the roster. Chicago, with newcomers DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Lonzo Ball flanking All-Star Zach LaVine, jumped out to a 26-10 record last season before losing Ball to a season-ending injury. Chicago’s rough second half of the season likely has people forgetting just how talented of a team it is, and why this game is one that deserves attention.

Much like Chicago, the Cavaliers came out of the gates hot and maintained their strong play through mid-February, when they were at one point 35-21. They’ve got budding stars in Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, and may also have Collin Sexton coming back from a torn meniscus. This young and talented team is only going to improve, and it could very well challenge the East’s top contenders for a top-five seed in the conference.

Speaking of young and talented, Oklahoma City has been stocking up on young talent for a couple of years now. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already emerged as a budding star, and Josh Giddey is right behind him. Throw in 7-foot-1, do-it-all rookie Chet Holmgren, and you’ve got an opponent that will certainly be fun to watch this season as it takes on the Celtics.

Two straight home games against the same team? It’s happening in mid-December against an Orlando team that’s patiently waiting to break through for a solid season. Orlando finished with the East’s worst record last season but then landed the No. 1 overall pick and selected Paolo Banchero. The Magic think he can be a franchise cornerstone, and we’re all about to find out if they’re correct on that belief.

Keep your eyes on the Rockets this season. They’re going to surprise people with some big games. That’s much ado to the arrival of Jabari Smith Jr., who many believed was the top prospect in the Draft but fell to Houston at No. 3. Smith Jr. joins a fun, athletic core that includes Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr. and Jae’Sean Tate. This team might not win 40 or 50 games, but it’s going to have some blockbuster highlights and will consistently challenge opponents like the Celtics.

The Pelicans were one of the better teams in the league over the final two-plus months of last season, going 18-14 over their final 32 games. And that was without superstar talent Zion Williamson, who returns to the lineup this season alongside Brandon Ingram and newcomer CJ McCollum. This team is long, athletic and skilled, and it’s primed to make noise in the Western Conference.

From two straight home games against Orlando, to two straight away games in Charlotte. The C’s will take on LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and the Hornets two out of three nights in mid-January, and these matchups are always fun. Charlotte is a good team that many will overlook. With all of those former Celtics on the other side, it’s safe to assume Boston will not make that mistake.

The Pistons are coming off of a 23-win season, but they’ve got to feel good about the foundation they are building. Last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Cade Cunningham, was fantastic during his first season and they just added Jaden Ivey via the No. 5 overall pick in the Draft. Those youngsters are surrounded by a bunch of capable veterans such as Saddiq Bey (third year), Kelly Olynyk, Nerlens Noel and Cory Joseph. This team isn’t ready to win a ton of games, but it is ready to show growth and to climb out of the NBA’s cellar.

Portland doesn’t usually fly under the radar, but following a season during which superstar Damian Lillard missed the final 47 games, some might forget just how entertaining and dangerous a team can be when it has the electric scoring guard leading the way. Lillard now has veterans Jerami Grant, Joe Ingles, Josh Hart and Jusuf Nurkic surrounding him, along with Gary Payton II, who just won a title in Golden State. This team will be a challenging opponent each and every night.

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The 10 Most Underrated Games on 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.

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Breaking Down the 2022-23 Celtics Schedule

Kyle George

BOSTON, MA – A Christmas Day game against the league’s defending champion, a mid-season stretch against several
    prominent opponents, a number retirement ceremony, and a frequent presence in the national spotlight highlight the
    Boston Celtics 2021-22 regular season schedule, presented by JetBlue.

The Celtics, fresh off their seventh consecutive postseason appearance in 2020-21, once again maintain a prominent
    position in the national spotlight this season with 22 nationally-televised games across ABC, ESPN, and TNT. The
    team opens its season on Oct. 20, when Boston travels to New York to face former Celtics Kemba Walker, Evan
    Fournier, and the Knicks on ESPN.

Boston hits the TD Garden parquet for the first time in 2021-22 on Oct. 22 against the division-rival Toronto
    Raptors, a game that will represent the home debuts for first-time Celtics and NBA veterans Josh Richardson and
    Dennis Schröder. It also marks the return of big men Al Horford, who spent three seasons in Boston from 2016-17 to
    2018-19, and Enes Kanter (2019-20).

The Celtics will welcome the NBA champions from each of the last two seasons into TD Garden in November, beginning
    with the defending-champion Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 12. Boston will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 19, before
    rounding out the month’s seven-game home schedule with a playoff rematch against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 24, the
    evening before Thanksgiving.

For the franchise-record sixth consecutive season – and the 35th time in franchise history – the Celtics will play a
    game on Christmas Day. Boston will play at Milwaukee on Dec. 25, serving as the second of five featured matchups
    selected by the NBA for Dec. 25 action.

In total, 18 of Boston’s 41 home games will occur in December and January, including the team’s season-long five-game
    homestand from Dec. 13-22. Twelve of Boston’s 15 contests in the month of December come against teams that qualified
    for the 2020-21 NBA Playoffs, a stretch that features a pair of games each against the Western Conference-champion
    Phoenix Suns, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the LA Clippers, along with a showdown against the Lakers in Los Angeles
    on Dec. 7.

Boston will play a season-high 10 home games in the month of January, including matchups with New York (Jan. 8),
    Charlotte (Jan. 19), Portland (Jan. 21), and Miami (Jan. 31).

Kevin Garnett No. 5 retirement ceremony set for March 13

The Celtics today announced that Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame nominee, 2007-08 NBA Champion, and 15-time All-Star
    Kevin Garnett will have his number 5 retired and elevated to the TD Garden rafters on March 13, when the team hosts
    the Dallas Mavericks. Garnett, who played in six seasons with the Celtics and was a key part of Banner 17, will be
    the 24th member of the Celtics organization to receive the honor.

NBC Sports Boston is scheduled to broadcast 72 games throughout the 2021-22 regular season as the official television
    home of the Boston Celtics. The network will also stream the games live on the MyTeams app. Mike Gorman and Brian
    Scalabrine will call the action and each game will include live Pregame and Postgame shows. Fans can visit
    NBCSportsBoston.com and follow @NBCSCeltics for all the in-depth action.

Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell will once again handle radio broadcast duties, calling all 82 of the regular season
    games live between 98.5 The Sports Hub and 105.7 WROR.

Tickets for all Celtics games played at TD Garden during the 2021-22 NBA season are available now at celtics.com or
    on the Celtics app. Fans with an American Express Card can gain access to an exclusive onsale on Tuesday, August
    24th at 11am (Eastern). For details, visit celtics.com/amextickets.

There are a limited number of private suite rentals and group tickets available for all home games. For more
    information, please email sales@celtics.com or contact via chat at celtics.com/tickets.

Fans can visit Celtics.com, “like” the Celtics on Facebook or follow @celtics on Twitter for general ticket sale
    updates and team information.

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Celtics Announce Schedule for 2021-22 Season

There’s a long list of hyped up games on Boston’s 2021-22f schedule. There’s also a long list of underrated games that might not catch one’s eye upon initial review.

That’s why we’re here. We went beyond the obvious matchups and put together a list of our 10 most underrated games of the season, and you can find that list below.

Boston vs. New York was fun last season thanks to Tom Thibodeau and Julius Randle revitalizing the Knicks. This year, these matchups will add an additional punch (or two).

Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker both departed Boston this offseason and eventually signed on with the Knicks. The upstart Knicks essentially brought back the same team and added Fournier and Walker to it. This matchup will mark the first time Fournier and Walker return to TD Garden to hear the Celtics’ faithful’s jeers as visitors.

It’s tough to be underrated when you’ve got one of the best players in the world on your roster, but that might just be what the Dallas Mavericks are heading into this season. The league is now so balanced, with so many competitive teams, that Luka Doncic and the Mavs aren’t necessarily regarded as top contenders. But they sure are going to be really good, and really fun to watch, if only for the presence of Doncic.

Atlanta surprised the basketball world by advancing to the Conference Finals last season on the wings of Trae Young’s incredible play. Yet it might just be underrated as well.

Some might believe Atlanta’s playoff run was a fluke. That’s fine. But it’s impossible to deny the fact that the Hawks went 37-19 from March 2 through the end of the postseason. Boston went 1-2 against the Hawks last season and will be looking to flip that script this season.

There may be no team in the league that took a bigger leap this offseason than the Bulls. Chicago, which already had Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic along with promising youngsters like Patrick Williams and Coby White, added DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso to the mix. That’s a heck of a summer.

Boston and Chicago, along with a handful of other teams, will undoubtedly be jockeying for playoff positioning throughout the season. This will be the first time their new rosters meet.

It might not be obvious, because they didn’t make the Playoffs last season, but the Memphis Grizzlies actually got better last year.

Memphis logged a 38-34 record last season after surprising the league and playing its way into the play-in games inside the 2019-20 bubble. They are still led by Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., but added Steven Adams and Rajon Rondo this offseason. The young Grizzlies are on a strong development track and will be a tough opponent every night.

Boston won two of its three games last season against a Charlotte team that may have competed for a top-six spot in the East had it not lost Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball for a stretch of five-plus weeks and lost Gordon Hayward for the final month of the season.

Hayward is one of two Hornets, along with Terry Rozier, who last played for the C’s, which adds some juice to this matchup. The Hornets also added Kelly Oubre Jr., Mason Plumlee, Ish Smith and first-round picks James Bouknight and Kai Jones to a team that is undoubtedly on the up-and-up.

Ah, the good ol’ days are back. Boston vs. Miami is again one of the premier matchups in the Eastern Conference.

While the Celtics are playing to return to the upper echelon of the East with largely the same core, Miami used an offseason spending spree to try to catapult itself back into the Finals. The Heat added Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris to the roster while also re-signing Duncan Robinson and Victor Oladipo.

This contest will mark the first time they’ll meet at TD Garden this season, before potentially needing to go through each other in the Playoffs.

Another Chicago game, but for a different reason. By this point of the season, at Boston’s 80th game, at least a handful of teams will be competing for playoff positioning in the East. Boston and Chicago are likely to be two of those teams. Playoff seeds may very well be on the line during this game, and would guarantee a heck of a show at TD Garden.

Remember the Denver Nuggets? The team that went to the Conference Finals in the bubble and has the reigning NBA MVP plus a strong cast around him?

You might have forgotten because they lost their star point guard Jamal Murray to a torn ACL in mid-April and were therefore removed from title contention. But with Nikola Jokic around, and with the continued growth of Michael Porter Jr. and a full season of Aaron Gordon, plus the eventual return of Murray, Celtics-Nuggets is a matchup which everyone should be eying.

Look, there’s no sugar coating it: the Pistons coming to town hasn’t been a draw in years. But things might just be a changin’ in Detroit.

The Pistons won the NBA Draft Lottery and the rights to select consensus No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham with that selection. Cunningham is a big guard who is believed to be a franchise-altering talent, and one who performed as such during the NBA Summer League. He averaged 18.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in Las Vegas while shooting 50 percent from long range.

Cunningham’s presence alone makes this a must-see game at TD Garden. Throw in the return of former Celtic Kelly Olynyk with his new team, and that’s just icing on the cake.