With the Celtics and Heat scheduled to play on Christmas Day this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo is already providing the bulletin board material.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the Boston Celtics will play the Miami Heat this season as one of five NBA games scheduled for the Christmas Day holiday.
While the Celtics and Heat have an extensive playoff history that spans back about 15 years at this point, this matchup felt only mildly intriguing when it was released, and that intrigue stems only from the fact that the Heat acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason, who the Celtics had also tried to acquire.
It would have been more interesting to see the Celtics paired with the 76ers, with Jaylen Brown's return to Boston serving as the main storyline, or the Celtics paired with the Knicks as part of a long-time rivalry.
However, Antetokounmpo did his part to spice things up on Tuesday, providing some bulletin board material for the C's a few months early. He was speaking about how excited he was to play on Christmas again, adding that he's going to "get a win" on the special day.
No, it wasn't incendiary, really, but in the world of NBA slights, it probably passes for one, and you can bet that the Celtics will remember it when game time comes around.
Full schedule release on Thursday
With the Christmas Day schedule out, the NBA can now focus on its full schedule release, which is set for Thursday morning. Since the C's didn't get the 76ers or the Knicks on Christmas Day, there is a chance that they could get them on Opening Night, which would provide some intrigue to the early season calendar as well.
Boston finished last season at 56-26 in the regular season, but with the Eastern Conference seemingly getting better this season, it could be a tougher road.
The 76ers are better after trading for Brown and signing LeBron James. The Raptors figure to get better if they can end up completing the Kawhi Leonard trade, and the Pacers should be better with the return of Tyrese Haliburton. The Detroit Pistons, who were the No. 1 seed last year, continue to grow as Cade Cunningham rises in stature.
Doc Rivers' day coming
Former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers is set to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night. The ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. ET and Rivers will be introduced by former Celtics greats Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who are also Hall of Famers.
