The Boston Celtics’ schedule was released tonight. The C’s have only one back-to-back-to-back, which should be good for creaky legs, but the NBA made up for it by scheduling the Celtics for the maximum amount of games against the Heat (4), Bulls (4), Lakers (2), Mavericks (2) and Thunder (2).

A few big dates:

Dec. 25, 2011 at New York Knicks — Season opener. Against Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. On Christmas Day. While drinking quarts of eggnog and wondering why Chauncey Billups keeps pulling up for three on secondary breaks. Awesome.

Dec. 27, 2011 April 1, 2012 vs. Miami Heat — Ho hum. A playoff rematch against the Miami Heat. In the TD Garden. With fans presumably screaming obscenities at Lebron James and rooting for an All-Star point guard, whose last name will either be Paul or Rondo.

Jan. 13, 2012 vs. Chicago Bulls — Derrick Rose makes his first trip to Boston this season, where he will match up against an All-Star point guard, whose last name will either be Paul or Rondo.

Jan. 16, 2012 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder — Be prepared for a standing ovation that could take the roof off of the TD Garden, and might even draw a smile from Kendrick Perkins. Also, Kevin Durant didn’t play in Boston last season. This one will be fun.

Feb. 9, 2012 vs. Los Angeles Lakers — Kobe and the crew make their one trip to Boston. By then, the Lakers will either be settling into their normal .750 winning percentage or Kobe will be plotting the murder of one Mike Brown. You know what I’m rooting for.

As it stands now, the Boston Celtics are 35-19, one game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks for third place in the Eastern Conference.  Boston is 6 1/2 games back of Cleveland for first place, and 1 1/2 games behind Orlando for second.

Third place probably isn’t where Boston expected to be at this juncture of the season, with preseason talk spanning from a prediction of 72 wins to the proclamation that Boston wanted its defense to be as stingy as the ’85 Chicago Bears.  But as far as the standings go, Boston actually isn’t in a bad spot; the schedule gets far easier from here on. (Boston Globe)

Of the 28 remaining games, 17 come against teams that would not quality for the playoffs if the season ended today, including three each against the Knicks and Bucks and two each against the Pistons and Wizards. This allows the opportunity for the Celtics to make up ground on the Magic and Cavaliers while working on cementing their identity for the playoffs.

Beyond playing mostly sub-.500 teams, Boston will play 17 of their last 28 games at home.  In a season that has seen Boston struggle at home while excelling on the road, I still think — hope? — all those home games should be a good thing.

Boston is also done with playing Atlanta (thank God), Orlando, and L.A.  They still have three games remaining against King James and the Cavaliers, and one against the Denver Nuggets, but three of those four games are at home.  Which, again, is hopefully a good thing.

The Celtics look like they are finally starting to round into shape, and the schedule could make it easier for them to climb back up the standings, perhaps giving them home-court advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs.  It will be tough to catch Cleveland, but could be pivotal to avoid the Cavs in the second round and also gain home-court against either the Magic or the Hawks.

But the schedule isn’t the biggest worry, and neither is home-court advantage.  Boston has to continue to play with the sense of purpose and teamwork they showed for most of the just-completed four-game road swing.  As long as they do that, I’m confident they can make a spirited run at another deep playoff run.

Preseason Schedule/Results
OCTOBER OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV (CSNNE unless otherwise noted)
Wed, Oct 6 Philadelphia 7:30 PM
Thu, Oct 7 @ New Jersey 7:00 PM
Sun, Oct 10 Toronto 6:00 PM
Tue, Oct 12 @ Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Wed, Oct 13 @ NY Knicks 7:30 PM
Fri, Oct 15 @ Toronto 7:00 PM
Sat, Oct 16 NY Knicks 7:30 PM
Wed, Oct 20 New Jersey 7:30 PM
Regular Season Schedule/Results
OCTOBER OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV
Tue, Oct 26 Miami 7:30 PM TNT
Wed, Oct 27 @ Cleveland 7:00 PM
Fri, Oct 29 NY Knicks 7:30 PM
NOVEMBER OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV
Tue, Nov 2 @ Detroit 7:30 PM
Wed, Nov 3 Milwaukee 8:00 PM
Fri, Nov 5 Chicago 8:00 PM
Sun, Nov 7 @ Oklahoma City 7:00 PM NBA TV
Mon, Nov 8 @ Dallas 8:30 PM
Thu, Nov 11 @ Miami 8:00 PM TNT
Sat, Nov 13 @ Memphis 8:00 PM
Wed, Nov 17 Washington 7:30 PM
Fri, Nov 19 Oklahoma City 7:00 PM
Sun, Nov 21 @ Toronto 1:00 PM
Mon, Nov 22 @ Atlanta 7:00 PM
Wed, Nov 24 New Jersey 7:30 PM
Fri, Nov 26 Toronto 7:30 PM
Tue, Nov 30 @ Cleveland 7:00 PM
DECEMBER OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV
Wed, Dec 1 Portland 7:30 PM NBA TV
Fri, Dec 3 Chicago 8:00 PM
Sun, Dec 5 @ New Jersey 1:00 PM
Wed, Dec 8 Denver 7:00 PM
Thu, Dec 9 @ Philadelphia 8:00 PM TNT
Sat, Dec 11 @ Charlotte 7:00 PM
Wed, Dec 15 @ NY Knicks 7:00 PM
Thu, Dec 16 Atlanta 8:00 PM TNT
Sun, Dec 19 Indiana 1:00 PM
Wed, Dec 22 Philadelphia 7:30 PM
Sat, Dec 25 @ Orlando 2:30 PM
Tue, Dec 28 @ Indiana 7:00 PM
Wed, Dec 29 @ Detroit 7:30 PM
Fri, Dec 31 New Orleans 3:00 PM
JANUARY OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV
Sun, Jan 2 @ Toronto 6:00 PM
Mon, Jan 3 Minnesota 7:30 PM
Wed, Jan 5 San Antonio 7:30 PM
Fri, Jan 7 Toronto 7:30 PM
Sat, Jan 8 @ Chicago 8:00 PM NBA TV
Mon, Jan 10 Houston 7:30 PM NBA TV
Wed, Jan 12 Sacramento 7:30 PM
Fri, Jan 14 Charlotte 7:30 PM
Mon, Jan 17 Orlando 8:00 PM TNT
Wed, Jan 19 Detroit 7:30 PM
Fri, Jan 21 Utah 7:30 PM
Sat, Jan 22 @ Washington 7:00 PM
Tue, Jan 25 Cleveland 7:30 PM
Thu, Jan 27 @ Portland 10:30 PM TNT
Fri, Jan 28 @ Phoenix 10:30 PM
Sun, Jan 30 @ LA Lakers 3:30 PM
FEBRUARY OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV
Tue, Feb 1 @ Sacramento 10:00 PM
Fri, Feb 4 Dallas 8:00 PM
Sun, Feb 6 Orlando 2:30 PM
Mon, Feb 7 @ Charlotte 7:00 PM
Thu, Feb 10 LA Lakers 8:00 PM TNT
Sun, Feb 13 Miami 1:00 PM
Wed, Feb 16 New Jersey 7:30 PM
Tue, Feb 22 @ Golden State 10:30 PM
Thu, Feb 24 @ Denver 10:30 PM TNT
Sat, Feb 26 @ LA Clippers 10:30 PM
Mon, Feb 28 @ Utah 9:00 PM NBA TV
MARCH OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV
Wed, Mar 2 Phoenix 7:30 PM NBA TV
Fri, Mar 4 Golden State 7:30 PM
Sun, Mar 6 @ Milwaukee 9:00 PM
Wed, Mar 9 LA Clippers 7:30 PM
Fri, Mar 11 @ Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Sun, Mar 13 Milwaukee 6:00 PM NBA TV
Mon, Mar 14 @ New Jersey 7:00 PM
Wed, Mar 16 Indiana 7:30 PM
Fri, Mar 18 @ Houston 8:30 PM
Sat, Mar 19 @ New Orleans 8:00 PM
Mon, Mar 21 @ NY Knicks 7:30 PM NBA TV
Wed, Mar 23 Memphis 7:30 PM
Fri, Mar 25 Charlotte 7:30 PM
Sun, Mar 27 @ Minnesota 7:00 PM
Mon, Mar 28 @ Indiana 7:00 PM
Thu, Mar 31 @ San Antonio 8:00 PM TNT
APRIL OPPONENT TIME (ET) TV
Fri, Apr 1 @ Atlanta 8:00 PM
Sun, Apr 3 Detroit 6:00 PM
Tue, Apr 5 Philadelphia 7:30 PM
Thu, Apr 7 @ Chicago 8:00 PM TNT
Fri, Apr 8 Washington 7:30 PM
Sun, Apr 10 @ Miami 3:30 PM
Mon, Apr 11 @ Washington 7:00 PM
Wed, Apr 13 NY Knicks 8:00 PM