The Boston Celtics' first game at home of the 2026-27 regular season will be against the Knicks on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. ET. While the Jaylen Brown trade might've taken some of the allure of that matchup away, Mitchell Robinson alone will add a lot to it. It will be his first time going up against the team that drafted him, the one that he won a title with in June.
The NBA knew what it was doing when it decided to send the Knicks to TD Garden, adding more excitement to a stacked opening-week schedule.
Swapping Brown for Paul George made many people a lot less high than they would've been on the Celtics otherwise, but Robinson can help prove in the home opener that Boston is still alive and well in the East. And there is no better time to do that than against the team that let him walk in free agency. He doesn't have to prove anything, but that doesn't mean he won't.
Knicks are the perfect matchup for Celtics' home opener
The only way the league could've picked a better home opener for Boston would've been if, of course, Philadelphia was the opponent. With the history between Robinson and New York, though, the NBA knew it could schedule the first game against the Sixers a little further out, letting the excitement build.
Signing Robinson was Boston's big offseason win (and the Knicks' biggest loss), and it's a bonus that it ties into the existing rivalry with New York for both the NBA and the Celtics. You might as well showcase that one early, right?
Fans already know that they'll hear a lot about the Brown trade all season long (and beyond that), and that will still be the case against New York, since it will be the Celtics' first game in Boston without him, but it will also be Robinson's first in the city. That narrative has the power to overshadow the trade, at least for one night.
Robinson will be the center of attention, something he seems to enjoy. And the Celtics can go into that game without dealing with as much outside noise about the Brown trade, though there will be the pressure of going up against the defending champions. That'll be fun, though, especially with the league's best offensive rebounder down low in green, doing to New York what he did against Boston for so many years.
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