Each summer, when the NBA schedule is released, one thing fans and media members will look for is how many national TV games each team has. Contenders and marquee franchises are typically in the public eye quite often, while those with lower expectations hoop in the shadows of NBA League Pass.
Even with the significant changes in Boston this summer, the Celtics were still slated to have 29 of their games broadcast nationwide. Being the winningest franchise in NBA history has its perks, after all.
Boston’s 18 NBA titles, apparently, only hold so much weight.
According to the NBA, the Dec. 26 matchup between the Cs and Indiana Pacers, which was originally supposed to air on Amazon Prime, has now been flexed in favor of the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls game. Along with the broadcast change comes a shift in start time.
Instead of tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET, Boston and Indy will get moving a half hour earlier (which is a win for those of us whose bedtime is dependent on basketball games, lol). Although the flex is a win for sleep, it’s a loss for clout.
This might be the new normal for the Celtics
Amazon electing to dump a meeting between the last two Eastern Conference Champions tells you a lot about how the Celtics are viewed on a national scale. They simply don’t have the same pull as the past few seasons, when they were perennial contenders. I guess losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tendon tear, trading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, and seeing Luke Kornet and Al Horford join new teams as free agents takes some of the excitement away from the Cs.
In fairness, it doesn’t help that the Pacers have started far worse than anyone expected, winning just two of their first 17 games.
The Celtics, actually, may be better than most people thought so far. Many felt they’d be amongst the league’s worst due to their lack of frontcourt depth. Instead, they’re currently 10th in the Eastern Conference at 9-8. As “mid” as that sounds, they’re not the typical 9-8 team. In fact, the Cs have the conference’s fifth-best point differential thus far, and are just two games back of the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers.
Plus, they rank 10th in the NBA in net rating, despite struggling to shoot the ball for extended stretches this season.
With that being said, their schedule hasn’t exactly been a gauntlet this far, and you could argue that they’ve underachieved, too. By the time this Pacers game rolls around, Boston’s record and advanced stats could be far worse, considering the upcoming stretch of tough games they have.
Maybe the league made the right decision, even if it’s disrespectful to Lucky and the boys.