The Boston Celtics are tentatively set to play their Atlantic Division rival Brooklyn Nets on Christmas Day as one of the NBA’s marquee contests on one of the biggest days of league calendar, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It will be a home game, former Celtic Kyrie Irving’s first return to TD Garden since leaving the team in free agency to join the Nets in 2019.
If he actually suits up, that is.
Longstanding rumors about the former Boston’s guard stomach to play against former teams aside, with Irving and Kevin Durant back and hopefully ready to play at full strength it ought to be one of the better games of Boston’s 2020-21 regular season.
ESPN Sources: Tentative Christmas Day Schedule pic.twitter.com/MId025HKvB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 2, 2020
Boston will be without the services of starting point guard Kemba Walker, who will be out until some time in January, as well as second-year wing Romeo Langford, whose wrist surgery in September will likely have him back in roughly the same timeframe.
The contest is the third game of the day, tipping off at 5 pm ET.
Other tilts planned for the day include the New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat, the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, and their cross-town rival Clippers versus the Denver Nuggets.
