Celtics Game 1 locked
Boston’s first‑round opener against Philadelphia is set for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET inside TD Garden, giving Celtics fans a clear Game 1 timeline to plan around (nesn.com). Local coverage is already positioning the matchup as a key early test in the East bracket (nesn.com).
Boston will open its first-round playoff series against Philadelphia on Sunday, April 19, at 1 p.m. Eastern at TD Garden. (nba.com) (sportingnews.com) The matchup became official after Philadelphia claimed the East’s No. 7 seed through the play-in tournament, setting up a Celtics-76ers series in the 2-vs.-7 slot. (sportingnews.com) (nesn.com) The National Basketball Association schedule lists Boston’s Game 2 for Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. Eastern, with Game 3 shifting to Philadelphia on Friday, April 24. NESN’s published playoff schedule shows the same first three dates and adds a Sunday, April 26, Game 4 in Philadelphia. (nba.com) (nesn.com) Boston entered the bracket already locked into the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed, so the only unresolved piece was which play-in winner would advance into the Celtics’ side of the bracket. Philadelphia’s win settled that question and fixed Boston’s opening weekend date. (nesn.com) (nba.com) The timing matters because the rest of the East first round is already staggered across April 18 and April 19, and Boston’s opener lands in the Sunday afternoon national window. The league schedule shows the Celtics as one of four Game 1s on Sunday. (nba.com) This is also a familiar playoff matchup. Sporting News reports it is Boston and Philadelphia’s first postseason meeting since 2023, reviving one of the conference’s most repeated rivalries. (sportingnews.com) Local coverage has framed the series around Philadelphia’s health and top-end talent, with NESN highlighting fresh reporting on Joel Embiid before the matchup. That puts immediate attention on Boston’s opening-game response against a lower seed with star power. (nesn.com 1) (nesn.com 2) For Celtics fans, the waiting is over: the bracket is set, the opponent is set, and the series starts Sunday afternoon in Boston. (nba.com) (nesn.com)
