As one of the rewards for winning the NBA championship, the Celtics will get to work on Christmas Day.
The Celtics will play in Los Angeles against the Lakers in a nationally televised game on the holiday, part of the just-released schedule that places Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and friends in the spotlight at most every possible turn. The Celtics will tip off the NBA season on October 28 against Cleveland. The game will be part the opening night doubleheader and will feature the raising of Boston's 17th championship banner.
The games against the fellow NBA finalist Lakers will be a big draw for national TV, with the L.A. at Boston game appearing on February 5th.
The Celtics should be used to the attention. The release of last season's schedule was delayed after the club acquired Garnett in late July. The slate had already been made out, but it was held back for alterations while the networks moved Celtic games onto their own schedules.
This year, Celtics games against the last three teams they met in the playoffs -- the Cavaliers, Pistons and Lakers -- are anticipated to be hotly contested again, thus causing the networks to put them before a wider audience.
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