The 2019-20 NBA season is set to resume July 30 in Orlando, Fla., and Boston Celtics fans should be excited. Not only because basketball will finally be back in our lives, but also because the C's ended up with a favorable eight-game schedule for the "seeding" matchups that will take place.
The full NBA restart schedule was unveiled Friday night and the Celtics are set to resume their campaign with a July 31 matchup vs. the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks. That's a tough way to get back into the swing of things, but there is reason to be optimistic in Boston.
Take a look at the full schedule below:
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NBC Sports Boston Celtics insider A. Sherrod Blakely and DJ Bean explained why this schedule bodes well for the Celtics.
"I like this schedule for the Celtics," Blakely said. "There's only one back-to-back which I thought is great. I like the fact there are some teams that are going to really force them to step their game up."
Boston Celtics
Bean believes the 8-game slate favors the C's because of their matchups as well as the difficult road one of their Eastern Conference foes will have to the postseason.
"I'm not scared of that Celtics schedule," said Bean. "I'm not scared of the Bucks anyway. They beat them without Jaylen Brown. They almost beat them a second time without Jaylen Brown.
"I'm thrilled if I'm the Celtics not only because their schedule isn't so tough, but take a look at the Toronto Raptors' schedule. That is brutal and yes, the Celtics are three games behind for the 2 seed, but eight games? With you having the tiebreaker? I don't know, I think it maybe could be done because Toronto's got the Lakers, they've got the Bucks, they've got the Celtics who they don't play well against. So watch out for the Raptors, it could be a slip for them."
Toronto will face the Lakers, Heat, Magic, Celtics, Grizzlies, Bucks, 76ers, and Nuggets in its seeding games. Stealing the No. 2 seed may still be a longshot for the C's, but that schedule certainly gives them a legitimate opportunity to pull it off.