Celtics given shocking opening "night" matchup with East foe

It’s official. The Boston Celtics will open their 2026-27 season up when they travel to visit the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesar’s Arena. In fact, they’ll actually be the first game of the entire league year, with tip off coming on Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. ET.

That’s right, the Celtics opener will be on a Tuesday afternoon.

*NSFW post below*

On one hand, it’s nice to be included, right? Like, the Cs are still relevant and important enough (unlike the Los Angeles Lakers) to be a part of the opening slate. At the same time, this is like being invited to a party, only to find out that you’ll be sitting in a separate room watching the actual party on a TV screen.

You can say you were there, but were you really?

This is completely new from the league, too. We’ve never seen (at least not recently) an afternoon season opener. We know that the NBA is always trying to find new ways to reach new fans. Maybe this is a play for the European audience.

Many nations across the Atlantic get smoked by the time difference and wind up with 11 p.m. or midnight tip times, even for teams on the East Coast. Celtics vs. Pistons should line up nicely with European prime time.

Celtics vs. Pistons should be fun, regardless of the tip time

As for the game itself, Boston and Detroit finished as the top two seeds in the East last year. Neither put together the playoff run they would’ve liked, but still wound up with better overall seasons than most fans and media would’ve expected them to have.

Their respective social media accounts found themselves in a bit of "beef" last week, too. The Celtics' account posted a highlight of Jayson Tatum crossing up Cade Cunningham, so the Pistons' admin posted a clip of Tatum being spun around by Ausar Thompson.

There’s no doubt that each will be looking to get off on the right foot as they begin a new climb towards contention.

Not to mention that every game between the two was a good one, with seven points being the largest margin of victory. Their NBA Cup clash the day before Thanksgiving was one of the most entertaining games of the season. Detroit came to TD Garden riding a 13-game winning streak and the Celtics, though they hadn’t hit their stride just yet, rode the energy of a tremendous home crowd to a statement victory.

It’s ironic that the Pistons have learned when they’ll be opening their season before learning if All-NBA center Jalen Durren will be back with them as they take the floor. The restricted free-agent and the front office have yet to reach an agreement on a contract extension. So, that’ll be something to monitor in these two months leading up to tip-off.

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