3. Cramming in the start of December
Right after the Celtics’ easy breezy start to the season, the NBA puts them to work. Not necessarily in terms of opponents, but they will be playing a ton of basketball in the first week of December.
From December 1 to December 7, the Celtics play five games. That’s five games in seven days, and the competition they will be facing is no slouch, either.
They take on the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat on a back-to-back to open the month, forced to travel from Cleveland back home to Boston the same night. The rest of the stint is at TD Garden, but after a December 4 game against the Detroit Pistons, they have the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies on a back-to-back on the 6th and 7th.
4. January’s West Coast death trap
The start of December is tough because of the number of games. The start of January will be tough because of the opponents Boston will have to face in quick succession.
Boston opens up the new year with a January 2 contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They follow it up with a back-to-back against the Houston Rockets in Texas on January 3.
Then, in two straight road games on the 5th and 7th, they have to play the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. Boston then returns home to face off against the Sacramento Kings on the 10th and the New Orleans Pelicans on the 12th. That’s a brutal stretch.