Ramp to Camp: Exploring the best non-reunion games on Celtics' schedule

Our favorite NBA Draft actually occurs in August.

Right after the league releases the schedule for the upcoming campaign, season ticket holders often huddle to divide packages split among friends and family. And the proceedings can be electric.

We’ve heard from multiple ticket-holders how much time and energy goes into plotting their draft strategy. Is opening night a first-round pick that year? (It certainly was last year.) How long will the lone Lakers visit stay on the board? Which opposing players are must-see when they come to Boston?

For Day 10 of our Ramp to Camp series, we asked our panel to pick one Celtics game in the 2025-26 season that they’d target. But we also instituted a few rules:

1. You can’t pick a tribute game. As we documented in Day 9 of the series, there likely will be four games this season in which a core member of the 2024 title team returns to the Garden and be honored for their time here. Those games will come off the board early.

2. You can’t pick Cooper Flagg’s first visit to Boston on March 6. Oh, you want to see the New England-bred rookie? Yeah, you and the rest of Maine. Get in line, buddy.

3. There were no restrictions on picking a road game. And, if we’re being honest, we encourage every Celtics fan to make a trek. If nothing else, it will make you appreciate TD Garden that much more.

We’re clearly making our panel work a bit here. Help me find some hidden gems. Give me a game with a storyline that isn’t so obvious. We probably should have told our panel no Lakers games either, especially with Marcus Smart now donning the purple and gold. But we don’t blame those who leaned that way. It’d be near the top of our list, too.

Here are five other home games we would target once the more obvious dates went off the board:

1. November 26 vs. Detroit. Not only are Cade Cunningham and the Pistons one of our favorite young teams to watch, but we get a 5 p.m. ET tip on Thanksgiving Eve. And it’s an NBA Cup game. What a way to kick off an extended holiday weekend.

2. December 28 at Portland. We’re skirting the rules here by using Christmas break to make a cross-country dash to see Celtics-Blazers.

Not only will it be Jrue Holiday’s first game against Boston, but it could be Robert Williams III’s first game against the Celtics, too. Time Lord hasn’t played in any of the four C’s-Blazers matchups since his departure. We’d fly 2,500 miles for that.

3. November 1 vs. Houston. The Rockets made a pretty big acquisition this summer (and we’re not just talking about JD Davison on a two-way deal).

Give us a Saturday primetime matchup with Kevin Durant, Ime Udoka, and a Houston team that has big goals this season.

4. February 8, 2026 vs. New York. The Celtics are back to hosting a Super Bowl matinee, and we get a divine 12:30 p.m. ET tip at the Garden. Even better, this one falls just a few days after the trade deadline, so there’s a good chance you’d see any player acquired in a move.

5. Any game in March or April at the Garden. Look, I have no idea if the Celtics will even entertain the idea of putting Jayson Tatum back on the court this season. Later in this series, we’ll ask our panel to predict his return date. But if we’re looking for a high-reward game, then we’re rolling the dice on a potential return after the All-Star break.

Let’s check what our panel came up with:

Darren Hartwell, Managing Editor

I wanted to choose a deep cut, but the answer is obvious: Celtics vs. Lakers on December 5.

There are too many good storylines here, from LeBron James potentially playing his last game in Boston, to Luka Doncic’s return to the scene of the 2024 NBA Finals crime, to Marcus Smart playing in just his second game against his old team — as a member of its longtime nemesis.

Michael Hurley, Web Producer

I’m cheating and picking two games: November 7 and 9 at the Orlando Magic.

It’s an odd choice because I actually despise watching games played in that arena. But I’m using last season’s Magic as a measuring stick for this season’s Celtics team.

Last year, Orlando was perfectly .500 at 41-41, good enough for the seventh seed in the East. With Boston’s expectations plummeting in Jayson Tatum’s absence, can the Celtics still be on the level of a mediocre Eastern Conference team that makes the playoffs? I think they should. Those two games will provide a real look.

Sean McGuire, Web Producer

December 26 at the Indiana Pacers.

Why? Joe Mazzulla is so maniacal that he’ll fabricate bulletin-board material even if it’s something silly. The Celtics not earning a spot in the Christmas Day lineup for the first time in a decade is a real slight. That doesn’t need fabrication.

I’m banking on Mazzulla coaching his ass off en route to a one-sided road win against a fellow playoff team.

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Josh Canu, Media Editor

December 5 vs. the Lakers.

Boston vs L.A. is big enough, but mix in LeBron James and Luka Doncic coming to town, along with a returning Marcus Smart, and you got a formula for must-see TV. Oh, and it is a Friday night, so I expect a very loud TD Garden.

Jim Aberdale, Supervising Producer, Celtics

Timberwolves vs. Celtics on March 22.

The battle of Georgia natives Anthony Edwards and Jaylen Brown turns into a mano-a-mano scoring showdown.

Max Lederman, Content Producer

Easy answer: October 24 at the Knicks.

I don’t like the Knicks. I don’t like Knicks fans. I don’t like the fact they ended the Celtics’ season last year and I blame them for Jayson Tatum rupturing his Achilles. I NEED REVENGE (in the form of a Celtics win inside MSG)!

Kevin Miller, VP, Content

This is somewhat unfair because I still love any Warriors game, but I guess that gets eliminated as an option if Horford ends up there. I’ll go with a few others: Opening Night against the 76ers.

I’m so curious to see how this team plays, from the energy I expect they’ll play with to the new-look rotation to how Jaylen Brown looks Plus, you can only watch it on NBC Sports Boston (shameless plug).

The other one for me is the back-to-back with the Timberwolves and Thunder on March 22 and 25. I think the Celtics are going to be scrapping their way to a top-four seed in the East, and I always love these measuring-stick games late in the season. Good players on both teams and top competition.