Do the Celtics actually have one of the easiest schedules in the NBA?

It became clear when the regular season schedule was released Monday the Celtics franchise will be getting more of the limelight this year (25 scheduled appearances on national TV). With expectations running high, the impact of the overall slate on Boston’s performance during the year can not be understated. For NBA teams, success will largely be dependent on varying effects of long road trips, back-to-back games, and overall strength of opponents.

How does the Celtics schedule look this year from front-to-back? What patches of the calendar can they take advantage of? Let’s take a closer look at the full 82 games and determine whether Boston has one of the easier schedules in the league, as some have projected:

October (7 games)
3 home, 4 road
1 back-to-back
Games against expected playoff teams: 6
Games to watch: @ Cleveland, @ Philadelphia, vs. San Antonio
Overview: The new-look Celtics will be tested right out of the gate with an Eastern Conference Finals rematch against the Cavs, and the road doesn’t get much easier from there for the rest of October, with six of Boston’s seven games coming against likely playoff opponents. Brad Stevens will have a lot of options early with his lineups, but he’ll be wise to settle on a consistent rotation early to deal with the likes of Milwaukee (x 2), San Antonio and Miami. The volume of games won’t be too bad, but there will be minimal time for Gordon Hayward and Co. to ease into action against inferior opponents.    

November (16 games)
8 home, 8 road
2 back-to-backs
Games against expected playoff teams: 7 
Games to watch: vs. LA Lakers, vs. Golden State, vs. Detroit
Overview: A pair of three-game road trips highlight a pretty balanced slate of games during the month of December. A tough tilt with Paul George and Russell Westbrook kicks off the month in OKC, but the remainder of the team’s road games are very winnable. In fact, just two of those eight road opponents are likely playoff teams, giving the Celtics an early opportunity to build a sizable lead in the Atlantic Division. The hottest ticket of the year will likely be the Warriors coming to town for a TNT game on Nov. 16. Bring your tissues for a return to the Garden parquet by Avery Bradley when the Pistons arrive on Nov. 26.

December (16 games)
9 home, 7 road
4 back-to-backs
Games against expected playoff teams: 7
Games to watch: vs. Utah, vs. Washington (Christmas), vs. Houston
Notable: The perks of the Eastern Conference are on full display for the Celtics again this month. Outside of a trip to San Antonio, the Celtics play all of their toughest games on the Garden floor, including a tilt with the revamped Rockets. While the quality of opponents won’t be tough, the quantity could be an issue. Four back-to-backs in December are a season-high for the green, highlighted by a brutal stretch of five games over seven nights in four different cities (Detroit, Chicago, Boston, Memphis).  

January (13 games)
7 home, 6 road
2 back-to-backs
Games against expected playoff teams: 7
Games to watch: vs. Cleveland, @ Philadelphia (London), @ Golden State
Notable: The Celtics get a premature All-Star break in the second week of the month, thanks to a matchup with the Sixers in London that features four rest days on both sides of the contest. The heavy travel month will also include a four-game west coast trip (LA x 2, Golden State, Denver) that matches Boston’s longest road trip of the season. The Celtics will get to go for their third straight win at Oracle Arena as part of their first-ever Saturday night national TV matchup on ABC.   

February (11 games)
7 home, 4 road
2 back-to-backs
Games against expected playoff teams: 5
Games to watch: vs. Cleveland, @ Toronto, vs. LA Clippers
Notable: A wrapup to the Cavs season series comes to an early end in 2017-18, just before the All-Star break in Boston on Feb. 11. The Celtics catch a break by only having to face the Cavs three times (twice at home) during the campaign, which is a nice scheduling break against a largely weak Eastern Conference. A pre All-Star break trade deadline (Feb. 15) will come into play for the first time, but the Celtics won’t have much time to practice at home if they do make any deals, as they’ll be playing three games in four nights to start off the second half of the season.

March (13 games)
4 home, 9 road
1 back-to-back
Games against expected playoff teams: 6
Games to watch: @ Houston, @ Minnesota, @ Utah
Notable:  The Celtics will spend a large chunk of March on airplanes, since seven of the team’s nine road games will come against Western Conference teams. Fatigue generally starts to become a major fact at this stage of the season, but the Celtics dodge a bullet on that front with just one set of back-to-back games, the lowest number in a full month all season. A four-game road trip at the end of the month will be capped by what will undoubtedly be an emotional return to Utah for Hayward on March 28.  

April (6 games)
3 home, 3 road
2 back-to-backs
Games against expected playoff teams: 3
Games to watch: @ Milwaukee, @ Washington, vs. Brooklyn
Notable: Outside of the first two days of the month, there won’t be much time to rest for the Celtics down the home stretch of the regular season. Boston closes out the campaign with six games in nine days, including three road contests against upper echelon East opponents (Washington, Toronto, Milwaukee). That situation could create some tough choices for Stevens as he weighs rest concerns vs. playoff positioning over the final games of the year. Fittingly, the C’s campaign will come to an end on April 11 against the Nets at the Garden, giving them one final chance to ensure the best possible lottery odds for Brooklyn in 2018.  

Takeaways:

A full inspection of the schedule lines up with the numbers. With the extended rest calendar and fewer back-to-backs, there are far fewer hectic sections of the schedule this year. Boston also catches a break due to the fact that three of the four Eastern Conference opponents they have to play three times (Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami) are all expected to be playoff teams. They will be face the rest of the East four times, including likely tanking squads in Atlanta, Chicago and Indiana. The battle to repeat for the top seed in the East shouldn’t be easy this year (depending on what Cleveland does with Kyrie Irving), but this C’s schedule could help push the odds in their favor.