It’s official: The Celtics will open their 2025-26 season on Wednesday, Oct. 22 with a home matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The NBA released the full regular-season schedules for all 30 teams on Thursday. Here are eight takeaways from Boston’s slate:

1. Early return to MSG

Amazon Prime Video will begin airing NBA games this season as part of the league’s new media rights megadeal, and the streamer’s inaugural outing will be an Eastern Conference semifinal rematch between the Celtics and New York Knicks on Friday, Oct. 24 at Madison Square Garden.

That will be the second game of the season for Boston, which won’t have to wait long to return to the site of the death of their title defense. The Knicks eliminated the Celtics with a blowout Game 6 win at MSG this past May.

2. National exposure

Overall, the Celtics will play 25 nationally televised games: seven on Prime, six on ESPN, six on NBC, four on Peacock and two on ABC.

That’s a substantial drop from last season, when they were scheduled for 34 national TV matchups, but still ranks eighth in the league, trailing the Thunder, Lakers, Warriors, Knicks, Timberwolves, Rockets and Nuggets. New York is the only team in the East with more national games (34) than Boston this season.

The Celtics will be especially visible in February and March, when they’ll have 13 games broadcast nationally in a 23-game span. Those include heavy-hitting matchups with Milwaukee (Feb. 1 and March 2), Dallas (Feb. 3), New York (Feb. 8), Golden State (Feb. 19), the Lakers (Feb. 22) and Denver (Feb. 25).

3. No Christmas matchups

Ten NBA teams will play on Christmas Day this year. For the first time in a decade, the Celtics will not be one of them.

Boston was not included in the NBA’s marquee slate of holiday matchups, breaking a streak of nine consecutive seasons with a Christmas game for the C’s. The last time the Celtics were idle on Dec. 25 was way back in 2015, when they were coming off a 40-42 campaign under then-head coach Brad Stevens. Oddsmakers expect the 2025-26 Celtics to be similarly mediocre after losing Jayson Tatum to a torn Achilles and gutting their championship-winning roster this offseason.

Just two Eastern Conference teams will play on Christmas this year (Cleveland vs. New York at noon, followed by San Antonio-Oklahoma City, Dallas-Golden State, Houston-Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota-Denver), underscoring how much stronger the West is projected to be.

4. Reunion week

The Celtics will welcome a pair of departed starters back to Boston in back-to-back games in late January. Jrue Holiday and the Portland Trail Blazers will come to town on Monday, Jan. 26, with Kristaps Porzingis and the Atlanta Hawks following suit on Wednesday, Jan. 28.

Luke Kornet’s San Antonio Spurs will visit a few weeks earlier, facing the Celtics at TD Garden on Saturday, Jan. 10.

5. Flagg day

Many of the marquee players from the Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals are no longer with their respective franchises, but Dallas’ trip to Boston on Friday, March 6 still will be a tough ticket.

Why? Because it’ll be the first game back in New England for No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg, who’s sure to have a strong cheering section from his native Maine on hand.

6. Early-season Celtics-Lakers

Speaking of tough tickets, the Lakers’ lone annual trip to Boston is set for Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. on Amazon Prime. Beyond the usual hype around any matchup between the NBA’s two most iconic franchises, this also likely will be one of the final games at TD Garden for LeBron James, who’s nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career at age 40.

The same can be said about 37-year-old Stephen Curry, whose Warriors will visit Causeway Street on Wednesday, March 18 (7 p.m.; ESPN).

7. Tough Cup draw

The Celtics were placed in a difficult group for the 2025 NBA Cup, as three of their four pool-play opponents (Philadelphia on Oct. 31, Orlando on Nov. 7 and Detroit on Nov. 26) should be playoff teams if their key players stay healthy. The lone exception is the Brooklyn (Nov. 21), which is expected to be lottery-bound again as its multi-year rebuild continues.

Boston has yet to advance past the quarterfinals of the NBA’s in-season tournament since its inception in 2023.

8. Travel notes

The Celtics will begin their longest road trip of the season just after Christmas, hitting Indiana, Portland, Utah, Sacramento and the LA Clippers between Dec. 26 and Jan. 3. They have two four-game trips later in their schedule: Indiana-Miami-Atlanta-Detroit from Jan. 12 to Jan. 19; Golden State-LA Lakers-Phoenix-Denver from Feb. 19 to Feb. 25; and Charlotte-Atlanta-Miami-Milwaukee from March 27 to April 3.

Boston have a total of 13 back-to-backs this season, and 12 of them will involve traveling between games. The Celtics will play in the same arena on consecutive nights just once, when they host the Toronto Raptors and Spurs on Jan. 9 and 10.

Here is the Celtics’ full 2025-26 schedule (all times ET; NBA Cup group play games marked with asterisk):

Wednesday, Oct. 22 vs. Philadelphia (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, Oct. 24 at New York (7:30 p.m.; Prime)
Sunday, Oct. 26 at Detroit (3:30 p.m.)
Monday, Oct. 27 at New Orleans (8 p.m.)
Wednesday, Oct. 29 vs. Cleveland (7 p.m.; ESPN)
*Friday, Oct. 31 at Philadelphia (7 p.m.; Prime)

Saturday, Nov. 1 vs. Houston (8 p.m.)
Monday, Nov. 3 vs. Utah (7:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, Nov. 5 vs. Washington (7:30 p.m.)
*Friday, Nov. 7 at Orlando (7 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 9 at Orlando (6 p.m.)
Tuesday, Nov. 11 at Philadelphia (8 p.m.; NBC)
Wednesday, Nov. 12 vs. Memphis (7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 16 vs. LA Clippers (3:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, Nov. 18 at Brooklyn (7:30 p.m.)
*Friday, Nov. 21 vs. Brooklyn (7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 23 vs. Orlando (6 p.m.)
*Wednesday, Nov. 26 vs. Detroit (5 p.m.; ESPN)
Saturday, Nov. 29 at Minnesota (5 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 30 at Cleveland (6 p.m.)

Tuesday, Dec. 2 vs. New York (8 p.m.; NBC)
Thursday, Dec. 4 at Washington (7 p.m.)
Friday, Dec. 5 vs. LA Lakers (7 p.m.; Prime)
Sunday, Dec. 7 at Toronto (3:30 p.m.)
Friday, Dec. 19 vs. Miami (7 p.m.)
Saturday, Dec. 20 at Toronto (7 p.m.)
Monday, Dec. 22 vs. Indiana (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, Dec. 26 at Indiana (7:30 p.m.; Prime)
Sunday, Dec. 28 at Portland (6 p.m.)
Tuesday, Dec. 30 at Utah (9 p.m.)

Thursday, Jan. 1 at Sacramento (10 p.m.)
Saturday, Jan. 3 at LA Clippers (10:30 p.m.)
Monday, Jan. 5 vs. Chicago (7:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, Jan. 7 vs. Denver (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, Jan. 9 vs. Toronto (7 p.m.)
Saturday, Jan. 10 vs. San Antonio (8 p.m.)
Monday, Jan. 12 at Indiana (7:30 p.m.; Peacock)
Thursday, Jan. 15 at Miami (7:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Jan. 17 at Atlanta (7:30 p.m.)
Monday, Jan. 19 at Detroit (8 p.m.; NBC)
Wednesday, Jan. 21 vs. Indiana (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, Jan. 23 at Brooklyn (7:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Jan. 24 at Chicago (8 p.m.)
Monday, Jan. 26 vs. Portland (8 p.m.; Peacock)
Wednesday, Jan. 28 vs. Atlanta (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, Jan. 30 vs. Sacramento (7:30 p.m.)

Sunday, Feb. 1 vs. Milwaukee (3:30 p.m.; ESPN)
Tuesday, Feb. 3 at Dallas (8 p.m.; NBC)
Wednesday, Feb. 4 at Houston (8 p.m.)
Friday, Feb. 6 vs. Miami (7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Feb. 8 vs. New York (12:30 p.m.; ABC)
Wednesday, Feb. 11 vs. Chicago (7:30 p.m.)
Thursday, Feb. 19 at Golden State (10 p.m.; Peacock)
Sunday, Feb. 22 at LA Lakers (6:30 p.m.; NBC)
Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Phoenix (9 p.m.)
Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Denver (10 p.m.; ESPN)
Friday, Feb. 27 vs. Brooklyn (7:30 p.m.)

Sunday, March 1 vs Philadelphia (6 p.m.)
Monday, March 2 at Milwaukee (7:30 p.m.; Peacock)
Wednesday, March 4 vs. Chalotte (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, March 6 vs. Dallas (7 p.m.; ESPN)
Sunday, March 8 at Cleveland (1 p.m.; ABC)
Tuesday, March 10 at San Antonio (8 p.m.)
Thursday, March 12 at Oklahoma City (9:30 p.m.; Prime)
Saturday, March 14 vs. Washington (6 p.m.)
Monday, March 16 vs Phoenix (8 p.m.; Peacock)
Wednesday, March 18 vs. Golden State (7 p.m.; ESPN)
Friday, March 20 at Memphis (8 p.m.)
Sunday, March 22 vs. Minnesota (8 p.m.; NBC)
Wednesday, March 25 vs. Oklahoma City (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, March 27 vs. Atlanta (7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 at Charlotte (6 p.m.)
Monday, March 30 at Atlanta (7:30 p.m.)

Wednesday, April 1 at Miami (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, April 3 at Milwaukee (8 p.m.)
Sunday, April 5 vs. Toronto (3:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, April 7 vs Charlotte (7:30 p.m.)
Thursday, April 9 at New York (7:30 p.m.; Prime)
Friday, April 10 vs. New Orleans (7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, April 12 vs. Orlando (6 p.m.)

Originally Published: August 14, 2025 at 12:22 PM EDT