Celtics 2012-2013 Schedule Released: What to Watch For

In what always serves as a bit of a bonus during the dog days of a basketball-free summer, the NBA unveiled their full 82-game schedule earlier tonight for all 30 teams around the league, including your Boston Celtics. This year’s slate looks even better than usual, as instead of 66 games crammed into four months of action, we’re back to the complete slate of games, over a more reasonable six months. Without further ado, let’s take a look at a few of the notable items from today’s release involving the C’s:

Games of Note:

October 30th: Celtics @ Heat 8 P.M. TNT
Opening night is always exciting and will be magnified as Boston faces off with the defending champs. Plus…what’s that you say? Ray Allen plays for the Heat now?!? Oh boy, this should be something.

November 2nd: Bucks @ Celtics 7:30 P.M. ET CSN
The Bucks aren’t anything special, but the second game of the season will serve as the team’s home opener on a Friday night.

November 23rd: Thunder @ Celtics 7:30 P.M. ET NBA TV
Enjoy your Thanksgiving leftovers with a dose of Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Durant, and company in what is always a fun day-night Bruins-C’s doubleheader at the Garden on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

December 25th: Celtics @ Nets 12 P.M. ET ESPN
Doc Rivers won’t be happy that the Magic are less relevant than ever now, as the C’s are forced to play in New York on Christmas for the second straight year instead of near his home in Orlando. Boston hits the west coast after this contest.

January 7th: Celtics @ Knicks 7:30 P.M. CSN
Takes 30+ games to see the revamped Atlantic Division rivals for the C’s. Will the reign of domination continue over NYK?

January 27th: Heat @ Celtics 1:00 P.M. ABC
Really curious to see what will be the cheer/boo breakdown at the Garden for Allen at this one. 70 percent boos/30 percent cheers? Will 40+ games of the season passing help ease the pain for bitter Boston fans? Will the two-minute montage tribute at the first timeout bring the house down? Beyond the opener, this may be one of the most anticipated games of the entire NBA season.

February 7th: Lakers @ Celtics 8:00 P.M. TNT
These Garden matchups between the cross-country rivals have been decided in the closing moments for four straight years. With Steve Nash now in LA, another element of intrigue is also in play.

February 17th: All-Star Game 8:00 P.M. TNT
How many will be there from the revamped Celtics roster?

March 6th: Celtics @ Pacers 8:00 P.M. CSN
Will these two be battling for positioning behind the Heat for the 2-3 seeds in the East? Barring injuries, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them back both back at the top.

April 17th: Celtics @ Raptors 8:00 P.M. CSN
Regular season finale! Hopefully the Raptors will have packed it for awhile at this point.

We get into the nitty-gritty of this packed slate, and show you the full schedule, after the jump

The Nitty-Gritty


— 18 of those 22 back-to-backs end on the road. This is largely due to scheduling the TD Garden with the Boston Bruins

Rest Breakdown:
0 days rest: 22 games
1 day rest: 39 games
2 days rest: 19 games
3 days rest: 8 games (tied for most in NBA)

What It Means: The return of practice! With multiple days off between one-third of their contests this season, Doc Rivers and company will be able to hit the practice floor more often than not for a change.

Trip Breakdowns:
—One five-game trip in late February (@Denver, @LA Lakers, @Phoenix, @Portland, @Utah)
—One four-game trip in late December (@Brooklyn, @LA Clippers, @Golden State, @Sacramento)
—Two three-game trips in December, (@Houston, @San Antonio, @Chicago) and March (@New Orleans, @Dallas, @Memphis)

Eastern Conference opponents:
The C’s will face their Atlantic Division rivals four times, while facing other teams in the East three or four times. Here is how those matchups breakdown:

Chicago: 4
Detroit: 3
Indiana: 3
Milwaukee:4 (All before December 21st. Get ready to see the Bucks early and often)
Cleveland: 4
Miami: 4
Atlanta: 4
Orlando: 3
Washington: 3
Charlotte: 3

Not great news with these breakdowns, as the C’s are facing (outside of Indiana) the toughest teams in the Central and Southeast divisions four times. Weaker squads like Washington, Charlotte, and Detroit they will only see three times during the year. Not the biggest deal, but not ideal for Boston, as they will be in high demand for national TV showdowns against Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, etc.

Final Verdict: Beyond the road back-to-backs, which is a reality for the C’s every year, not too much to complain about here. The high number of those is balanced out by long periods of rest between eight games, which Rivers will be able to make use of. With the C’s adding terrific depth at all positions this year, they should be in good shape to handle a full docket of games in 2012-13.

You can check out the full schedule breakdown by clicking here.

No lockout means a return to normalcy in this year's schedule, where each team visits each city at least once and no team has to play a back-to-back-to-back. Last season, there were 40 back-to-back-to-backs.

Also this year, the regular season will start almost two months earlier (October 30) and will end nine days earlier (April 17) than last season.

SCHEDULE TIDBITS
• NBA Finals rematches: Christmas Day in Miami, Valentine's Day in Oklahoma City.

• Eastern Conference Finals rematches: October 30 in Miami, January 27 in Boston, March 18 in Boston, April 12 in Miami.

• Western Conference Finals rematches: November 1 in San Antonio, December 17 in Oklahoma City, March 11 in San Antonio, April 4 in Oklahoma City.

• Check out the notable "return" games this season in the chart at right, including Carmelo Anthony making his first trip to Denver this year. Because of the lockout-adjusted schedule, the Knicks did not play at the Nuggets last season.

• Teams appearing the most frequently on ESPN networks: Los Angeles Lakers (16), Miami Heat (15), Oklahoma City Thunder (15), New York Knicks (15), Los Angeles Clippers (14), Chicago Bulls (12), Boston Celtics (11).

DEFENDING THEIR TITLE
• The Heat and Celtics will play each other on Opening Night, October 30 in Miami. Not only will it be Ray Allen's first game against his most mates, LeBron James is 0-3 vs Celtics in season-openers (0-1 with the Heat in 2010, 0-2 with the Cavaliers in 2008 and 2009).

• Based on last season’s records, the toughest months of the season schedule-wise for the Heat will be the start of their season in October-November. But they'll follow that with their easiest month in December. And that includes a Christmas Day showdown with the Thunder.

• It hasn’t been easy for teams to defend their title recently. There’s been only one repeat champion in the last 10 years (Lakers 2009 and 2010). The last two teams defending their titles were bounced in the 1st Round (2012 Mavericks) and Conference Semifinals (2011 Lakers). The last time the Heat defended their title, in the 2006-07 season, they were dealt injuries to Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal and knocked out in the 1st Round.

In any other recent year, it might have been crippling.

Yet, as daunting as the notion of 22 back-to-back games in the 2012-13 schedule is for the Celtics – including 18 with the second night on the road – somehow what Boston president of basketball of basketball operations Danny Ainge has done this summer was reassuring for Celtics fans as the team’s schedule for next season was unveiled tonight.

For a team that played fewer back-to-backs in the condensed, lockout season last year, the effects of 22 could be devastating for an aging squad.

But a closer look at next year’s Celtics suggests a team that is not nearly as aging as most think. Sure, Kevin Garnett will turn 37 during next year’s playoffs. Paul Pierce is racing toward 35 in training camp. New signee Jason Terry will play the year at 35 as well.

But, overall, the team has gotten dramatically younger, and deeper, and considerably more capable of withstanding the rigors of a schedule that includes 22 back-to-backs.

There was admittedly a double-take two Saturdays ago when Brandon Bass talked about how, at age 27, he was still entering the prime of his career. Admit it, you thought he was older, didn’t you?

Jeff Green, who is still expected to be re-signed despite some arduous and seemingly inexplicable contract delays, is 26 years old. So is newcomer Courtney Lee and two-time All-Star Rajon Rondo.

Avery Bradley is still 21. Jared Sullinger is 20

With the re-signing of Keyon Dooling this week, this is a team that easily goes 10 deep, and there is still a decent chance Mickael Pietrus ends up back in Boston when the remaining free agents stop circling around the remaining available veterans minimum musical salary chairs.

So it leaves the Celtics as well equipped as any edition in recent years to conquer a slate that starts Oct. 30 in Miami, includes a Christmas Day stop in Brooklyn, and concludes with the 22^nd back-to-back of the year.

Will Garnett see every game of each back-to-back? Probably not. Will Pierce? Not likely.

But the achievement of this summer has been acquiring the depth for next season that has been sorely lacking in the last few.

The Celtics may be playing a lockout-themed schedule in a year not shortened by a lockout.

But this time, you have to feel with a valid degree of reassurance, they will be ready for it.