We now know who the Boston Celtics will play and when in 2016-17
It was reported the other day that the Boston Celtics would take on the New York Knicks on Christmas Day. That and the rest of the 2016-17 schedule has been released. The Celtics will be the first game on Christmas Day at 12PM ET, making it the perfect time if you don’t want to watch basketball in the middle of a family party.
The Celtics will start their season at home on Wednesday October 26 at 7:30PM ET, at home against the Brooklyn Nets. This should be a good chance for the Celtics to get off to a fast start in 2016-17 and test different lineups as the Nets shouldn’t be much of a threat, even in Game One.
The Celtics first match-up against the Cleveland Cavaliers will come on November 3 – fifth game of the season. That will be a big early season test for the new look Celtics. It will be at Quicken Loans Arena, giving the Celtics an even bigger chance to make a statement early in the season.
The Golden State Warriors will come to town on November 18. After breaking the Warriors historically long home winning streak last season, there is no doubt the Warriors will want revenge against one of the top teams in the East. With the Warriors now the most hated team in the NBA, TD Garden will be rocking all night.
Speaking of other contenders to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston won’t see their in-division rival Toronto Raptors until December 9.
Al Horford will return back to Atlanta for the first time on January 13. Horford spent all nine of his NBA seasons with the Hawks, which should warrant a warm welcome from Hawks’ fan. A video tribute for the All-Star center is possible, however, a standing ovation and loud cheers during the starting lineups announcement is expected for sure.
The Celtics toughest stretch of the season will come in late February, early March when Boston will be on the road 12 of 15 games. They face this challenge, like every team does, every season, but it’s a good test late in the season for a team who expects to go deep in the playoffs.
The season will end where it all started, at home. Boston will host the Milwaukee Bucks at home on April 12 to end the regular season and hopefully lead them into a long postseason run.
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To top it all off, the Celtics will be nationally televised 22 times, not including NBA TV games. That’s the second most in the Eastern Conference behind Cleveland. Their steady increase in nationally televised games is a testament to their quick rebuild and telling of how close they are to being considered true threats in the East.