Did the Schedule Makers do the Celtics a Favor?

After a few teases, the NBA released the full 2025-2026 season schedule on Thursday. I of course took a pen to that paper to take a look at how the Celtics' schedule looks. And I have to say, it feels like the C's caught a lot of breaks. Specifically, it looks like a steady schedule. What do I mean by that? Let's dig in.

Home vs. Road

Last season, there was a difference of three or more games in the home/road splits in four of the seven months of the regular season (ie, three more home games than road, or vice versa). This season, there isn't a single instance of that.

There is one stretch in December and January where there's an abundance of road games, but it seems eminently manageable. It starts with the longest road trip of the season – five games from Dec. 26 through Jan. 3. None of those five games are a back-to-back. That is followed by a four-game homestand over eight days, with one back-to-back with Toronto and San Antonio. Manageable. Then over the next 14 days, there are seven games, six of which are on the road. But again, just one back-to-back, which is a pair of road games in Brooklyn and Chicago. Manageable. Steady. In general, having the greater balance in home and road games each month feels like a win.

NBA Cup Lead In

Last season, the C's started December with five games in seven days, a stretch that had two back-to-back sets. The C's would lose the final game of that stretch to Memphis, a 127-121 thriller where the C's started flat and had to try to claw back and came up short. Cramming those games in was excused as a function of the NBA Cup, a thing that may happen every year. Except it didn't happen this season. This season, December starts with four games over seven days, with just one back-to-back, and the first leg of it involves Washington. Is it just a one-game difference? Yeah, but all the pieces matter. The C's can't hand waive the schedule this season and assume their talent is going to win the day. These little edges could mean the difference between the six seed and the seven seed.

Back-to-Backs

The C's have the same 13 back-to-back sets that they had last season, and five of them seem sweepable, even given the C's possibly diminished form. Let's put the sets in buckets:

We could probably argue some of these, but I think the bottom line is that only a few of these back-to-backs look to be killer. Again, steady and manageable. That Feb. 25 game in Denver may be the toughest game on the schedule. The Nuggets will have two days of rest prior, while the C's have to play the night before, and then go and play at altitude against what looks to be a very strong Denver team. The Nov. 30 game in Cleveland and both Houston games are no picnic either. The Rockets will similarly have two days of rest before their game in Boston on Nov. 1, while the C's will be toiling the night before in a different city.

Another point on these – only eight of the 26 back-to-back games are home games. I think that's a positive. If you had to zoom way out, you'd say in a vacuum that the C's are going to struggle on the road some, but will do well at home. So if you posit that the team is less likely to do well on the road, it's OK that so many of these back-to-backs are on the road. Meanwhile, 33 of their 41 home games will be played under more optimal conditions, with rest built in, which gives the team a marvelous opportunity to excel at home.

Key Stretches

Earlier, we talked about the stretch of road games in December and January. That will be a key stretch. But I have three other stretches circled on the calendar. Starting on Nov. 23, there is a five-game over 10 days stretch that looks to be the toughest of the season: vs. Orlando, vs. Detroit, at Minnesota, at Cleveland, and vs. New York. Luckily, there's only one back-to-back, but those are five quality opponents.

Two other stretches in March stand out. One is March 8 in Cleveland, March 10 in San Antonio, and March 12 in Oklahoma City. And then later that month, March 22 vs. Minnesota, March 25 vs. Oklahoma City, and March 27 vs. Atlanta.

Does the League Office Know Something We Don't Know?

The C's will have 25 national TV games, which ranks eighth in the NBA. But one thing that caught my eye is that before the All-Star break, the C's will play on national TV in 14 of their 52 games, or 26.9%. After the break, they play on national TV in 11 of their 28 games, or 39.2%. That seems like a significant percentage difference, and I can't help but wonder if the league office believes (or has been told?) that Jayson Tatum will come back at some point in the second half. Certainly him doing so would make for great TV, and the door is open to that since the C's have not declared him officially out for the season (just don't rush back and re-injure yourself, Jayson).

Other Oddities

• The C's play 48 of their 82 games on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. They only play eight times on Tuesday, and just six times on Thursday.
• Fifteen of their 25 national TV games are on Sunday, Monday, and Friday – five each.
• Three of the first 12 games are against Philly. If Joel Embiid and/or Paul George aren't ready at the start of the season, the C's may not see them until their fourth and final game against Philly on March 1st.
• Both games against New Orleans are the second legs of back-to-backs. Same with Houston.
• The C's do not have the Clippers/Lakers back-to-back in Los Angeles this season, so they will actually visit Los Angeles twice.
• Both of their games vs. each of the Lakers, Mavericks, and Warriors are on national TV.
• The C's have two eight-game stretches without a national TV game. Those are the longest stretches. There are five instances where the C's have consecutive games on national TV.
• Just like last season, the C's have an early November set of road games in the same Southeast Division city. Last year it was Charlotte. This year it's in Orlando, on Nov. 7 and Nov. 9. That figures to be considerably more challenging, and a good look at if Orlando is better.

Overall, I feel the same sense of giddiness looking at the schedule as I did the past couple of years. Late Ocober can't come soon enough!