
The NBA released its opening night and Christmas schedule and the Celtics open Oct. 17 at Cleveland and host the Washington Wizards on Christmas Day.
The Celtics and Cavs last met in the Eastern Conference finals when the Cavs eliminated the C's in five games. They'll open the season against each other on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 8 p.m. It'll be a slightly different Celtics cast with Gordon Hayward added in free agency, No. 3 overall pick Jayson Tatum making his NBA debut and Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk gone via free agency among the changes for Boston.
MORE CELTICS
- SI: Jayson Tatum 'most likely NBA rookie to succeed'
- Anthony Davis: Craziest question I heard was whether I was going to Boston
As for the Cavs, their big question mark will be whether they'll have All-Star guard Kyrie Irving still playing with LeBron James after they have reached the NBA Finals three years in a row. Irving has asked to be traded.
The 5:30 p.m. Christmas Day home game will be the first Christmas home game for the C's in their history and will offer another playoff rematch. They'll host the Washington Wizards, who lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals in seven games. New Celtics forward Marcus Morris, acquired from the Detroit Pistons this summer, will get to spend the holiday facing his twin brother Markieff of the Wizards.
The Celtics earlier announced a regular-season game in London Jan. 11 against the Philadelphia 76ers. The full regular season schedule will be released later this month.
Boston Celtics
Find the latest Boston Celtics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.