5 Takeaways From The Celtics 2026-27 Regular Season Schedule

To some, the NBA regular season schedule release isn’t very notable. Everyone plays everyone and we just find out when they play. However, I love it and wanted to give some takeaways to it.

1. Jaylen Brown’s return

I was surprised that Jaylen Brown’s return to Boston was not on Christmas and I was even more surprised that it was just on a random Thursday that will be televised on Amazon Prime on the 2nd night of a back-to-back for the Celtics. Clearly, the NBA just did not value that game as much as Celtics fans and a lot of other people who follow the NBA thought they would.

It doesn’t change how emotional that night is going to be for Celtics fans though. Jaylen Brown is a Celtics legend who many thought would retire a Celtic. Instead, he now plays for one of Boston’s biggest rivals and will be out for blood trying to prove that Boston made a bad decision.

2. A lot of back-to-backs

It is not entirely clear on how many back-to-backs the Celtics will play this year.

I count 16 back-to-backs for the Celtics next season.

That's their most since the 2016-17 campaign.

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) August 13, 2026

13 back-to-backs for a team with several key players likely to sit some or all of those, that's expected.

But among those back-to-backs are some high-profile, National TV games including…

…the JB return game Vs. Phily Jan. 21
Vs. GSW Feb. 10
Vs. OKC Mar. 12
Vs. SA Mar. 24 https://t.co/AypDWlIwcg

— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) August 13, 2026

The Celtics have 15 back-to-backs next season — only the Nets and Pelicans have more

But, they’ve been really good on back-to-backs in the Joe Mazzulla era https://t.co/I6riIXgYtI

— Noa Dalzell ???? (@NoaDalzell) August 13, 2026

For what it is worth, my count was 16, which would be tied for the most in the league and, as Daniel Donabedian noted, the most back-to-backs the Celtics have had since 2016-17.

As Sean Grande notes, the Celtics might have a few guys who don’t play in back to backs this season. New center Mitchell Robinson is one example, as he did not play in such games for the Knicks last season.

3. A lot of national TV games in February and early March

From February 2nd to March 14th, the Celtics will play 19 games, 12 of those games will be on national TV.

Boston will play in 27 national TV games this season, meaning 15 of the remaining 63 games are scheduled to be nationally televised. If you take out the first two Celtics games, 13 of 61 games will be on national TV.

Yes, the Celtics are tied for 8th in the league in that category. However, almost half of the games come over a 19-game stretch (which makes sense as the NBA loads up on national TV games between the end of football and beginning of March Madness).

4. A long homestand followedby a long road tripthen another homestand

On December 14th, the Celtics tip off a 7-game, 15-day homestand against the Washington Wizards that caps off against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Then, on December 30th they start a 6-game, 11-day west coast road trip that starts in Chicago against the Bulls and ends in Los Angeles against the Clippers.

After they come home, Boston will play 9 out of 10 games at TD Garden with only a trip to the nation’s capital as their lone road game over that stretch to play against the Wizards.

This is all after a November in which they play 12 of 16 games on the road.

It is a weird scheduling quirk and one that we haven’t seen a lot over the past fews years for Boston. One thing is clear: there are a lot of long road trips and long homestands for the Celtics this season.

5. Atough close to the season

Of the Celtics final 7 games of the season, 4 will come against teams that were in the playoffs last season (that doesn’t include games against the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat, who are widely expected to return to the playoffs after missing them last season). Five of the 7 games will also come on the road.

Over their last 7 games, Boston will play at the Pacers, at the Cavs, home against the Heat on a back-to-back, at the Knicks, at the Magic, at the Hawks and they close the regular season home against the Bucks.

If the Celtics are in a tight playoff race as the regular season comes to an end, it will be a grind for them to get the highest seed possible. On the other hand, this could represent a good test for Boston as they get ready for the playoffs.