After a busy offseason that saw Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis shipped out due to necessary payroll cuts to get below the NBA’s daunting second-apron restrictions, the departures of Luke Kornet and, eventually, Al Horford in free agency, and the reality that Jayson Tatum will miss most, if not all, of next season, five of Boston’s top nine minute-getters from the past two seasons—including the 2024 championship team—will not be on the floor for the Celtics this season.
With that roster turnover comes lower expectations, a reality that was reflected in the release of Boston’s schedule for the 2025-26 season. The Celtics will play 25 nationally televised games—still a healthy number, but nine fewer than last season—and, for the first time since 2015, they won’t be featured on Christmas Day.
Still, in a mediocre Eastern Conference, the Celtics are betting favorites to make the playoffs (-220) and sit at +115 to participate in the play-in tournament.
Let’s take a closer look at some key dates for the Celtics’ 2025-26 schedule, which features 13 back-to-backs (12 of which involve travel between games) and approximately 44,000 miles of travel.
October 22, 2025 - Opening Night vs. 76ers
Last year, the Celtics were unveiling the long-coveted Banner 18 on opening night, returning 15 of the 17 players from the championship team. This year, only seven—Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh, and Neemias Queta—will remain. It’ll be the first look at the post-second-apron Celtics.
October 24, 2025 – @ Knicks
Boston’s first road game will take place where the final chapter of the 2024-25 season was written: Madison Square Garden, a memory that will surely leave a sour taste for the returning players. The Knicks enter this season among the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, now led by two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown. Vibes will be high in New York with plenty of buzz around the team, but can the Celtics spoil those vibes with an upset in enemy territory? This game will also be the first NBA matchup televised on Amazon Prime.
October 29, 2025 - Vs. Cleveland
After a 64-win season, their second-most in franchise history, which featured two separate 15-game win streaks and three 12+-game win streaks, becoming only the second team in NBA history to have three separate 12+ game win streaks in a single season (2006-07 Dallas Mavericks), the Cavaliers had an early exit, falling in five games to the Indiana Pacers.
This season, the Cavaliers retain their entire starting five, along with DeAndre Hunter, whom they acquired at last year’s trade deadline. Entering as betting favorites to win the Eastern Conference, Cleveland sits nearly $20 million over the second apron. Their clock is ticking, but with the Eastern Conference in its current state, there’s a golden opportunity for the Cavaliers to cash in.
November 1, 2025 - Vs. Houston
Starting with the Knicks game, Boston will play its sixth game in nine nights, four of which came against playoff teams a season ago. After finishing second in the Western Conference with a 52-win season, the Rockets had a monster offseason, bringing in Kevin Durant, Clint Capela, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Josh Okogie, while also re-signing Steven Adams, Aaron Holiday, Jeff Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, and Fred VanVleet.
Former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, who led Boston to the NBA Finals in his first season, has guided Houston into contention faster than many expected, and the Rockets are poised to be one of the league’s premier teams this season.
November 7 and 9, 2025 - @ Orlando
The Celtics will play a two-game weekend mini-series against the Orlando Magic on Friday, November 7, and Sunday, November 9, in a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff matchup.
In a blockbuster trade, Orlando acquired Desmond Bane in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks, and one first-round pick swap—making it clear they’re in win-now mode. Bane joins a young core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs, which is locked up through the 2028-29 season.
Orlando, as the Celtics learned last postseason, is an emerging team that will be a contender in the Eastern Conference for years to come. And they addressed some of their major weaknesses this offseason.
November 16, 2025 - Vs. Clippers
This will be a fun one. A Sunday 3:30 matinee at TD Garden against Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Bradley Beal, Chris Paul, and Brook Lopez.
December 5, 2025 - Vs. Lakers
LeBron James. Luka Dončić. Celtics vs. Lakers. And Marcus Smart’s first game at TD Garden in the purple and gold. This matchup doesn’t need much explaining—there will be plenty of eyes on this one.
December 9 - 16, 2025 - NBA Cup
This week is blocked off on the schedule for NBA Cup games, but I’m curious as to where the Celtics will be at this point. It’s obvious the Celtics aren’t contending for a championship this season, so are they more inclined to really make a run at the NBA Cup? It’s a tough draw in their group, which consists of Brooklyn, Detroit, Orlando, and Philadelphia, but food for thought as the experience could now be more experience for younger players, and could give fans something to cheer for (though they probably won’t care).
December 26, 2025 - January 3, 2026 - The longest road trip of the season
This will be Boston’s longest road trip of the season, spanning five games in nine days, starting December 26 in Indiana and ending January 3 against the Clippers.
January 7, 2026 - Vs. Denver
It’s always a treat when Nikola Jokić comes to town. In his last five games at TD Garden, he’s averaged 29.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists. This time, he arrives with a beefed-up supporting cast, as the Nuggets brought back Bruce Brown, who won a championship with Denver in 2023, and added Cam Johnson, Jonas Valančiūnas, and Tim Hardaway Jr.
January 10, 2026 - Vs. San Antonio
A pair of seven-footers will draw plenty of attention from Celtics fans when they come to town for the only time this season. First is phenom Victor Wembanyama, who is cleared to return after recovering from the deep vein thrombosis that sidelined him for the second half of last season. The second is Luke Kornet, a Boston fan favorite who played a key role in the team’s success over the last three seasons. Kornet signed a four-year, $41 million deal with San Antonio in free agency this offseason.
January 19, 2026 - MLK Day @ Detroit
For the fifth straight year, the Celtics will play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
January 26 - February 1, 2026 - The longest homestand of the season
Boston’s longest homestand, spanning four games in seven days, begins January 26 against Portland and concludes February 1 against Milwaukee. The homestand will be full of reunions: Jrue Holiday returns to TD Garden on the 26th with the Trail Blazers, and Kristaps Porzingis comes back on the 28th with the Atlanta Hawks. Robert Williams III is also with Portland and has yet to play a game at TD Garden since being traded on the eve of training camp in 2023.
This will be Portland’s only trip to Boston. Atlanta returns on March 27.
March 6, 2026 - Vs. Dallas
Cooper Flagg, the first pick of the 2025 NBA Draft and a Newport, Maine, native, makes his TD Garden debut against the team he grew up rooting for—in front of what will surely be a crowd packed with Mainers. Flagg’s reception will be much warmer than Kyrie Irving’s, should Irving be cleared to play while recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in March.
March 18, 2026 - Vs. Golden State
It’s always fascinating to watch how early fans show up just to catch a glimpse of Stephen Curry during pregame warmups. Warriors and Celtics fans alike crowd their side of the court, filling dozens of rows in the lower bowl with cameras, all trying to capture a shot of the greatest shooter in the game. Beyond that, this matchup has consistently been a must-see East-West clash, and with Jimmy Butler joining forces with Curry and Draymond Green, there should be some extra flair this time around.
Additionally, all signs point to Al Horford signing with the Warriors in free agency once the Jonathan Kuminga situation is resolved, setting up a return to Boston for Horford.
March 25, 2026 - Vs. Oklahoma City
Much like the Celtics last season, the Thunder will essentially retain the same roster they had during their championship run. With a young core and a bevy of first-round picks, Oklahoma City looks poised to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time. The Thunder were also the only team the Celtics didn’t beat last season.
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