The C's acquired the longtime veteran from the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this offseason, and they will have to navigate a difficult schedule to keep him healthy and available.
The Boston Celtics got their version of the 2026-27 NBA schedule on Thursday afternoon when it was released by the league offices.
The Celtics will open up the new campaign on Oct. 20 on the road at the Detroit Pistons, and they will close it out on April 11 at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.
We've noted some of the biggest scheduling quirks for the Celtics in the upcoming year, including that the team has 14 different cases of back-to-back games.
Let's take a deeper look at them:
1) Oct. 26-27 vs. Chicago and Brooklyn
2) Nov. 1-2 at Orlando and Houston
3) Nov. 10-11 at Philadelphia and Toronto
4) Nov. 15-16 vs. Dallas and Orlando
5) Nov. 21-22 at Sacramento and Golden State
6) Nov. 29-30 at San Antonio and Dallas
7) Dec. 13-14 at Brooklyn and vs. Washington
8) Jan. 1-2 at Utah and Portland
9) Jan. 20-21 vs. Indiana and Philadelphia
10) Feb. 4-5 at Charlotte and Atlanta
11) Feb. 9-10 vs. Denver and Golden State
12) Feb. 17-18 at OKC and Memphis
13) March 11-12 vs. Memphis and OKC
14) April 1-2 at Cleveland and vs. Miami
Impact on Paul George?
Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) controls the ball against the New York Knicks during the fourth quarter of game three of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Bill Streicher-ImagnIt seems evident that this schedule is going to have a major impact on Paul George and the Celtics, by extension.
Acquired this offseason in the deal that sent Jaylen Brown to the 76ers, George is a 16-year veteran of the Pacers, Thunder, Clippers and 76ers. A nine-time All-Star, George is one of the best players of the last 15 years or so, but he's no longer quite the same player.
He's played less than 57 games in six of the last seven seasons and the Celtics likely can't count on him for more than 50 this season if they want to keep him healthy and active for the playoffs.
As a result, he will likely be forced to sit in some of these back-to-backs, which will inherently make the Celtics worse.
Without Brown, the C's will already have to find new ways to win. It only gets tougher if his primary replacement isn't able to be on the floor in several of these cases.
George has averaged 20.5 ppg for his career, but has been at 17 or less in each of the last two.
Brown averaged 28.7 ppg for Boston a season ago, finishing sixth in the MVP voting and earning second-team All-NBA honors.
