The Celtics will visit the Knicks in the first national NBA game shown on Amazon Prime on Oct. 24, the league announced. It will mark Boston’s second scheduled game following a home opener earlier in the week, based on historic schedules. The season begins on Oct. 21 with an NBC double-header between the Rockets and Thunder, Oklahoma City’s ring night, then the Warriors at the Lakers in the late game.
Boston starts its NBA Cup schedule one week after the playoff rematch with the Knicks at Philadelphia.
* at Sixers, 7:00 EST, Prime
* at Magic, 7:00 EST, NBCSB
* vs. Nets, 7:30 EST, NBCSB
* vs. Pistons, 5:00 EST, ESPN
Alongside the Celtics’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day trip to Detroit (Jan. 19, 8 EST, NBC), three of the team’s first six games announced will be shown nationally. Their removal from the opening week slate, however, previewed a likely reduction over their constant national presence following **Jayson Tatum’s** injury and various offseason losses. The Celtics will not play on Christmas Day for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
The NBA opening week slate also includes Cavs-Knicks and Spurs-Mavs on Oct. 22 on ESPN. Another double-header on the network features a Thunder-Pacers Finals rematch on Oct. 23 followed by Nuggets-Warriors. ESPN will air ESPN games on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and occasionally Friday. NBC received Tuesday games and select Sundays later in the season following football season. On streaming, Prime hosts Friday night and some Thursdays after Thursday Night Football ends, while Peacock takes on Monday nights.
Last year, Boston hosted the season opener against the Knicks, a Christmas Day loss to the Sixers and played in nationally 26 times, 34 including NBA TV, with only the Lakers and Warriors appearing in more. The Celtics only [received seven in 2015-16](https://deadspin.com/nba-national-tv-espn-tnt-abc-nba-tv-1723767952/).
Gary Washburn reported a seventh game on Oct. 29 at home against the Cavaliers. The NBA will release the full schedule on Thursday.