We are officially less than two months away from our first look at the revamped 2022-23 Boston Celtics as they gear up for another run to the NBA Finals. The team unveiled the official preseason schedule ahead of what is anticipated to be the full schedule reveal sometime next week.
The Celtics will take on the Charlotte Hornets at home on Sunday October 2nd at 1 p.m. ET. Three days later, they’ll stay at home to play against the Toronto Raptors. After one day off, they’ll travel to North Carolina for a rematch against LaMelo Ball and the Hornets before closing out the preseason slate against Toronto once again in Canada a full 7 days later.
A week between preseason games is a lot of time to fix any issues that may pop up in the first three games, and that likely won’t leave a ton of time between the preseason finale and Opening Night. As a Finals team, the Celtics will most likely play on Opening Night, which figures to be likely be Tuesday, October 18th. Sometimes, a long layover from the preseason finale to the season opener can leave a team rusty, so having a week break between games may play to Boston’s advantage.
Who will they play when the season starts? A lot of things hinge on where Kevin Durant goes. Usually, it’s an Eastern Conference opponent in the first game (before the ring ceremony for the Golden State Warriors will take place on the West coast in the evening). My bet would be the Miami Heat. A fully healthy Milwaukee Bucks rematch might hit better on Christmas Day like last year. It also wouldn’t surprise me to see the Philadelphia 76ers coming into Boston opening night considering the hype around their upgrades around the margins this offseason.
Who knows?
We’ll find out hopefully next week. As training camp approaches in the final week of September, be on the lookout as the Celtics fill out their training camp roster of up to 20 players ahead of those four preseason games.
