OFFICIAL: CELTICS SCHEDULE ANALYSIS AND RECORD PREDICTION

 

Our friends at DraftKings has the over/under on the Celtics win total at 53.5, highest in the Eastern Conference with a game over the Bucks and

second in the entire league, a game less than the defending champion Nuggets. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s still 82-83 games to get through and how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Let’s break up the schedule in chunks:

at Knicks, Heat, at Wizards, Pacers, at Nets, at Timberwolves, at 76ers: Familiarity breeds content. The Celtics packed their preseason

schedule with five games, including home-and-aways with Atlantic Division rivals New York and Philadelphia. They’ll now face both to start the 82-

game marathon.

 

This away-home-away-home-away-away-away gauntlet isn’t the friendliest start and it’s packed with obvious intrigue: an Eastern

Conference Finals rematch with Miami, a visit to D.C. for Danilo Gallinari’s revenge game, and a pair of “try hard” teams in Indiana and Brooklyn.

Boston has started the last two years 2-5 and 3-4. They could stumble out of the gate again (4-3).

 

Nets, Raptors, Knicks: A three-game homestand will also be the Celtics first three-games-in-four-nights stretch. We’ll most likely get our first

look at how head coach Joe Mazzulla plans to deal with resting big men Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Robert Williams. Also note that the

Brooklyn game starts the four-game round robin for the In-Season Tournament (3-0).

at 76ers, at Raptors, at Grizzlies, at Hornets: The team’s first reunion with Marcus Smart is on the front end of a back-to-back in Memphis.

The following night, they’ll meet up with old friends Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward. Bring Kleenex.

 

An interesting quirk in the 2023-2024  schedule is the two games in the City of Brotherly Love a week apart. It’s not a ton of mileage between Boston

and Philadelphia, but the Celtics will be on the road for 9 of their first 14 games (3-1),

 

Bucks, at Magic, Hawks, Bulls, 76ers: At nearly the quarter mark, another homestand features bookend games against the Bucks and 76ers (for

already the third time). The Orlando and Chicago contests are both Group C games. Don’t be surprised if this stretch is part of a multi-game win

streak (5-0).

In-Season Tournament: The Celtics should come out of the group stage either as a qualifier or wild card and the quarterfinals as one of the best

teams in at the 20-game mark. I won’t go as far to suggest that they’ll lift the inaugural NBA Cup in Vegas, but it should be a fairly successful

week (2-1).

Cavs, Cavs, Magic, Magic: Back-to-home home-and-homes with a back-to-back against two of the up-and-coming teams in the East and both

Cleveland and Orlando gave them trouble last year. It could get a little weird before heading out west for their annual team reset road trip (2-2).

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

 

 

 

at Warriors, at Kings, at Clippers, at Lakers: There’s always a building narrative when the Celtics visit the Western Conference for the first

time of the year. It’s either galvanized them or worse, made the warts appear even bigger. All four California teams could be hosting first round series

in April, so it won’t be easy. Just give me a Christmas gift and Beat LA, please (3-1).

Pistons, Raptors, at Spurs, at Thunder, Jazz, at Pacers, at Pacers: Last season, the Celtics should have been better than 24-10 against

sub-.500 teams. These are games that contenders should feast on and get fat in the winter (5-2).

Timberwolves, at Bucks, Rockets, at Raptors, Spurs, Nuggets: Over the course of the week, the Celtics will be nationally televised in

Milwaukee and at home hosting Nikola Jokic and Denver. They’ll want to put their best foot forward in those games, but there may not be more

motivation than beating former head coach Ime Udoka when Houston comes to town (4-2).

at Rockets, at Mavericks, at Heat: Another game against their former coach, their former teammates Kyrie Irving and Grant Williams, and their

forever foe in Miami. Make a statement (3-0).

Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images

 

 

 

 

Clippers, Pelicans, Pacers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Hawks, Wizards: Another opportunity to gobble up wins with their longest homestand of the

year. It features another weird home back-to-back (there are five total), but otherwise, these are all games that Boston will be favored in. The seven

games on the parquet floor will also be a good opportunity for the front office to evaluate where the team is at. Ironically, the game against

Washington (Porzingis’ former team) marks the league’s trade deadline. And speaking of, circle your calendars for Smart’s return home on February 4th (5-2).

 

at Heat, at Nets, Nets: It’s the final three games before All-Star Weekend. A game in South Beach is followed by a home-and-away against

Brooklyn. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the key players aren’t already on vacation when the team plays at TD Garden on Valentine’s Day (1-2).

 

at Bulls, at Knicks, 76ers, Mavericks, Warriors: By my count, Boston should be nearing 45 wins at this point after winning 57 last year and 51

the year before. Per Positive Residual, the Celtics have “the most rest-advantage games at 16.” You’ll start seeing it here in February and March. After

a week off after the All-Star Game, Boston doesn’t have any B2B’s going into March and a five-day stretch with only one game in the middle hosting

the 76ers (4-1)…