The 2026-27 NBA regular season schedule is out, and honestly, some of the choices are wild. The biggest shocker? Jaylen Brown’s return to Boston isn’t even on Christmas Day. Nope, the league threw that epic moment onto a random Thursday, second night of a back-to-back for the Celtics, and it’s only gonna be on Amazon Prime. It just screams that the NBA didn’t value that game as much as literally everyone else did.
The Return Game: Jaylen Brown Is Coming Back
You really gotta wonder what the NBA was thinking with that Jaylen Brown game. This dude is a Celtics legend! So many people, including the fans, thought he’d retire in Boston. Now he’s playing for one of their biggest rivals, and you know he’s gonna be out for blood, trying to prove Boston messed up big time. That night is gonna be absolutely emotional for Celtics fans, even if the NBA decided to treat it like just another random game. Talk about a missed opportunity for a prime-time Christmas showdown.
Back-to-Back Blues? Or Maybe Not?
Get this, the Celtics are looking at a ton of back-to-backs next season. My count had them at 16, which would be tied for the most in the entire league and their highest number since the 2016-17 season. Daniel Donabedian noted that 16 figure too, while Noa Dalzell tweeted 15, saying only the Nets and Pelicans have more. Sean Grande chimed in with 13 back-to-backs having some huge national TV matchups. We’re talking games like Philly on Jan. 21, Golden State on Feb. 10, OKC on Mar. 12, and San Antonio on Mar. 24. That’s a brutal stretch! The thing is, the Celtics have actually been really good on back-to-backs in the Joe Mazzulla era. But with new center Mitchell Robinson not playing in such games for the Knicks last season, and the possibility of other key guys sitting out, those back-to-backs could get dicey.
National TV Spotlight
Despite the weirdness around Brown’s return, the Celtics are gonna be on national TV a lot. Especially between February 2nd and March 14th. During that intense stretch, they play 19 games, and twelve of those are going to be nationally televised! Overall, Boston’s got 27 national TV games on the schedule this season, with 15 of their remaining 63 games getting the big stage. That’s a lot of exposure, giving fans plenty of chances to see how this squad navigates a tough schedule and those high-stakes rivalry games.
This schedule is no joke, with potential for some massive moments and big challenges right out of the gate. Fans will be watching closely to see how the Celtics handle that brutal back-to-back load and, of course, that emotionally charged return of Jaylen Brown. The season is gonna be a wild ride.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Celtics Blog.
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