Getty Robert Williams, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford of the Boston Celtics.
With the 2022-23 season not too far from now, the NBA is now starting the process of each team’s schedule. When orchestrating each team’s schedule, many look forward to seeing who will be among the 10 teams playing on Christmas day. It appears that the Boston Celtics will be one of them.
While tweeting that the Celtics’ first game of the season will be played at home, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe also mentioned that it is likely that the Celtics will take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day 2022.
This is the second consecutive year in which the Celtics will take on the Bucks on December 25. Last year, the Celtics faced off against the Bucks in Milwaukee, where they lost 117-113. Although it didn’t end the way they wanted it to, the game was entertaining up until the very end.
This is also the seventh consecutive year that the Celtics have played on Christmas, dating back to 2016 when they took on the New York Knicks in New York, where they won 119-114.
This will also be the 36th game that the Celtics have played on Christmas in the franchise’s history.
Celtics Record on Christmas Day
In the 35 games the Celtics have played on December 25, the team has an overall record of 15-20, according to StatMuse.
In the last six consecutive years the Celtics have played on Christmas, they’ve sported a .500 record at 3-3, which includes wins against Atlantic Division rivals Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Toronto Raptors.
This upcoming matchup against the Bucks will be the first time the Celtics will be playing an opponent who they had faced in a playoff series the previous year since 2017. That year, they faced off against the Washington Wizards, where they lost 111-103.
Even though the Celtics do not have the most impressive record playing on Christmas day, it’s clear that the league views them as one of their biggest draws since Christmas is considered to be among the days in which fans tune in the most during the regular season.
The Celtics and the Bucks will not be the only ones who will face off on Christmas day.
Other Christmas Day Matchups Announced
Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed the Celtics matchup against the Bucks while also announcing the other four matchups that will take place on Christmas Day 2022. This will include games between the 76ers and the Knicks, the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, and the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors.
On top of announcing who plays who on Christmas, Charania also made note of where the games will be taking place.
Sources: NBA’s 2022 Christmas Day schedule:
Bucks at Celtics
76ers at Knicks
Suns at Nuggets
Lakers at Mavericks
Grizzlies at Warriors
As of now, it remains to be seen if these matchups listed by Charania were done so in that order based on what time they will be on.
It would make sense that the Eastern Conference matchups would start first because of the time zones, but the Western Conference matchups may be more difficult because the home teams in these matchups have varying time zones, like Dallas playing in the Central Daylight Time while Denver is playing in the Mountain Daylight Time.