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The Celtics are Such a Huge Draw That the NBA Gave Them an Opening Day Game at 3 P.M. on a Tuesday

Matt Schultz

By Matt Schultz

Published:

Apr 30, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) looks on during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The NBA released the schedule for some of its big-ticket games and Celtics fans must be thrilled with the primetime position they got: opening at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday –

That’s big-league stuff. The NBA knows that all eyes will be on a television in the middle of the afternoon on a workday/school day, and simply had to slot the Celtics in a top-tier, premier position to be seen. I can’t even imagine how furious NBA fans around the globe would’ve been if, on that Tuesday at 3 p.m. — one of the better times of day for TV, right when you get very tired but still have another two-ish hours of tasks to do at work, where there is commonly no TV anywhere nearby — the public were unable to feast their eyes on Hugo Gonzalez, Paul George, Payton Pritchard, and the rest of Boston’s star-studded lineup. Nightmare scenario. We need to see the C’s. And the NBA delivered.

For Celtics fans out there, it has to feel pretty damn good that the NBA got this right. Ignore these guys’ pessimism; they just don’t get it:

And things only look up from there as Opening Week continues: on that Friday, the Celtics will take on the Knicks in an Amazon Prime game that surely everyone will be watching. People love Amazon Prime. People know exactly how to log into that. Millions and millions of people are regular subscribers and cannot wait for this showdown. This game is not buried. This game is important to the NBA and the basketball world:

The bottom line is that even after the horrendous embarrassment of the Jaylen Brown trade, the Celtics are still a top-notch product in the NBA, and the schedule reflects that. This guy on Twitter talking about how amazing it is that Boston has a Christmas Day game again understands. This is the correct opinion to have about Jayson Tatum and the Celtics. He is not unhinged. No way:

Can’t wait for the Jayson Tatum effect on Opening Tuesday at 3 p.m.. Don’t be surprised if he shows out so much that the NBA has no choice but to move the rest of Boston’s games to the middle of the night.

Matt Schultz
Matt Schultz

Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com

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