C’s open season vs. Sixers
The Celtics will have a chance to showcase themselves right away when the NBA’s regular season opens on Tuesday, Oct. 16.
The Celtics, among the favorites to compete for the Eastern Conference title this season, will face the Philadelphia 76ers at the Garden on the league’s opening night in prime time (8 p.m.), the first game of a doubleheader on TNT. Oklahoma City will battle Golden State in the nightcap.
The NBA yesterday released a schedule of some of the season’s marquee games.
Two other Celtics games made the early release: a matchup against Toronto on Friday, Oct. 19 at the Garden, and a Christmas tilt against the 76ers (5:30 p.m., ABC), also at the Garden.
According to the NBA, the league’s full schedule will be released tomorrow.
James Harden and the Rockets will appear three times on national television in the opening week of the season, while the Lakers, Warriors and Celtics will be featured twice.
Elsewhere during the opening week, the Pelicans visit the Rockets and the Mavericks face the Suns on Oct. 17 on ESPN. On Oct. 18, the Bulls travel to face the 76ers and the Lakers visit the Trail Blazers, with both games on TNT. In addition to Celtics-Raptors, the Jazz host the Warriors on ESPN on Oct. 19.
The first nationally televised weekend games include the Raptors at the Washington Wizards on NBA TV and Rockets-Lakers Oct. 20 on ESPN, and the Rockets-Los Angeles Clippers Oct. 21 on NBA TV.
The highlight of the coveted Christmas Day games is LeBron James facing a familiar foe — Stephen Curry and the Warriors — for a fourth straight year, only this time James will be wearing Lakers’ gold and purple rather than the familiar wine and gold colors of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors, who added center DeMarcus Cousins in the offseason, feature a lineup with five current NBA All-Stars. That game will be televised on ABC at 8 p.m.
Also on Christmas, the Rockets, who came within a game of knocking off the Warriors in the Western Conference finals last season, will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (3 p.m., ESPN), while Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks visit the New York Knicks (noon, ESPN) and the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Utah Jazz (10:30 p.m., ESPN).
TNT’s featured Martin Luther King Jr. Day games Jan. 21 include a Warriors-Lakers rematch — this time in Los Angeles — while the 76ers host the Rockets, and the Pelicans visit the Memphis Grizzlies.