The Celtics will open up their first round series at TD Garden this Sunday as they begin their quest to repeat as NBA champions. The NBA released the dates for all eight Game 1 first round matchups on Monday morning but have only released start times for the Saturday games. Boston will find out the time of their Sunday contest on Tuesday night after the first two games of the play-in tournament.
Boston is the No. 2 seed in the East and will be watching closely on Tuesday night as the No. 7 Magic host the No. 8 Hawks in a matchup that will determine the Celtics’ first round opponent. The No. 7 Warriors will also face the No. 8 Grizzlies later Tuesday evening for the right to face the Rockets in the Western Conference first round.
All four matchups that are locked in for both conferences will begin their series on Saturday. Here’s the full schedule released by the NBA of those Game 1 matchups for Saturday April 19.
(5) Milwaukee at (4) Indiana: 1 p.m., ESPN
(5) LA Clippers at (4) Denver: 3:30 p.m., ESPN
(6) Detroit at (3) New York: 6 p.m., ESPN
(6) Minnesota at (3) LA Lakers: 8:30 p.m., ABC
The top two seeded teams in both conferences will host Sunday Game 1s with the times and TV channels for those contests still unknown. Here’s the current rundown for those matchups for Sunday April 20.
(7) Orlando/Atlanta at (2) Boston
(8) TBA at (1) Cleveland
(7) Golden State/Memphis at (2) Houston
(8) TBA at (1) Oklahoma City
The Celtics have gone 1-2 against the Magic and Hawks in head-to-head matchups this season. Both of Boston’s losses to Orlando however came without Jayson Tatum in the lineup, including this past Wednesday when six top players sat on the tail end of a back-to-back. Atlanta has a pair of early season road wins in Boston but the two teams have not played since Jan. 18.
The Hawks and Magic split their season series at 2-2. Orlando hosts Atlanta on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in a nationally televised TNT showdown that kicks off the play-in tournament.
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