The NBA released its regular-season schedule Thursday afternoon, and the defending champion Celtics start with another thriller. The Knicks appear to be the Celtics’ biggest threat in the East once again, trading for Mikal Bridges while losing center Isaiah Hartenstein this summer. The NBA is making sure that rivalry is front and center this season, as the Knicks come to Boston on Oct. 22 for the first game of the NBA regular season.
That will be ring night and should be an exciting game. This is the third time in four seasons these teams open their seasons against each other, with Boston winning a close one in New York last year and the Knicks winning the Evan Fournier revenge game with a double-overtime victory in Oct. 2021. The Knicks have revamped their roster over the past year to match up against the Celtics’ versatility, so this season will open with a good test for the defending champs.
The Celtics will play on the major networks — TNT, ESPN, and ABC — 26 times this season, trailing only the Lakers (28) for the most in the league. They are tied with the Lakers for most ABC games (six), while Boston also plays on NBA TV eight times this season. Their final regular-season game on TNT with the “Inside the NBA” crew comes on April 8, their last trip to battle the reloaded Knicks at Madison Square Garden before the playoffs. NBC and Amazon Prime will replace TNT as the secondary broadcasters to ABC/ESPN when the new TV deal begins following this season.
February will be Boston’s chance to shine on the national stage, as seven of its 11 games are on national TV. That month features a pair of games against each of the Knicks, 76ers and Cavaliers, plus Victor Wenbanyama’s lone visit of the year with the Spurs. But the highlight comes on Feb. 6, when the Mavericks return to Boston, where they watched the confetti fall as the Celtics hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy.
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