NBA schedule to be released Tuesday; How many national TV games will the Celtics have?

The NBA has just announced that they will be releasing their schedule this upcoming Tuesday, August 6th at 6pm. Last season the NBA announced the schedule during a nationally televised show on NBA TV, but it is not clear if that is the plan this year.

Some aspects of the schedule have been leaked, as we already know that the Heat will host Derrick Rose (we think) and the Bulls on October 29th, Miami will visit the Lakers on Christmas, and reportedly that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will return to Boston January 26th. On Tuesday we'll figure out everything else.

One interesting aspect of this Pierce and Garnett-less season is seeing how much "respect" the new look Celtics get in terms of nationally televised games. Last year the C's played a whopping 25 national TV games (16 if you don't count their 9 NBA TV contests).

This year that number will seemingly dip — possibly by a lot. Just guessing, but you'd figure that both of Pierce and Garnett's Boston games and Doc Rivers return will be televised nationally for sure. There will also likely be a couple of Heat-Celtics tilts as Rondo vs. Miami will still have some draw and there will probably be a Knicks-Celtics and Celtics-Lakers game as well. Besides that — I'm not so sure.

Last year the Celtics star power garnered them nationally televised games against the likes of Dallas, Atlanta, New Orleans and Philadelphia (twice). Those types of games would seem unlikely to get a national audience this year.

Why does this all matter? Well for starters, a lot of Celtics fans do not live in New England and rely on nationally televised games to keep up with the team. There is also the fact that playing on the big stage is just a cool experience for players and fans alike as your team takes center stage. Finally, national TV means NATIONAL TV RONDO!!1!, and there is nothing quite like Rondo when the entire country is watching.

Tuesday will also give us an answer to the very important, "When does Celtics season start?" question. With the NBA season starting October 29th (A mere 89 days away), it's safe to assume the Celtics will start either October 30th or on Halloween. But on Tuesday we'll find out for sure, and can start adjusting our schedules accordingly.

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