Celtics fans finally have a date circled on the calendar for Jaylen Brown’s return to Boston, and it’s not coming early.
With the NBA schedule released on Thursday, August 13, the first Celtics home game against the Philadelphia 76ers is set for Thursday, January 21. That means Boston won’t host Brown until 2027 after the shocking trade that sent him from the Celtics to Philly.
The teams will meet four times in the regular season, with the first matchup coming on Tuesday, November 10. The final two regular-season games are set for Sunday, February 7 in Philadelphia and Sunday, March 7 in Boston. If you include the preseason, they’ll see each other six times.
Brown is going to dominate the conversation every time these teams line up, but he won’t be the only name driving the buzz. Philadelphia also signed LeBron James in NBA free agency, which instantly makes these games even louder for Boston fans. LeBron has long been one of the Celtics’ biggest individual rivals, and now he’s landed with one of their biggest team rivals too.
That combination should make the 76ers’ visits the hottest tickets on Boston’s schedule. It also doesn’t hurt that Philly could be one of the league’s top teams next season.
Boston’s first home date with Philadelphia comes with a tricky setup. The Celtics host the Indiana Pacers the night before, and the source notes the Pacers should be more competitive with Tyrese Haliburton back. Boston’s first meeting with Philly also lands on the first night of a back-to-back, with the Celtics on the road against the Toronto Raptors the next night.
The back half of the series is a little cleaner for Boston. For the final two games against the 76ers, the Celtics will have a day off before and after each matchup.
There’s also the possibility of rest being part of the story. The source notes it will be interesting to see how Boston handles the games with Paul George and Mitchell Robinson, who could see rest games on back-to-backs.
Still, getting one early game against Philly might help settle things down before the rivalry games pile up later in the season. The source even says it could temper some of the emotions around the later matchups, though Boston would have preferred to host the 76ers earlier.
The Celtics also know how their season will begin. The NBA revealed its opening night schedule earlier in the week, and Boston will be part of the first regular-season game. Instead of facing the reigning champion New York Knicks, who host Philadelphia to open the season, the Celtics will go on the road to play the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, October 20.
That game will tip at 3:00 pm, making it a rare NBA afternoon game on a non-holiday date, and the first of its kind for the league.
Training camp is set to start on Tuesday, September 29, and preseason games won’t be far behind in October. After the offseason Boston just went through, all eyes will be on how the Celtics look once the games finally start.
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