NBA Makes Major Celtics Announcement Before Round 2

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt John | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 3:37 PM ET

On Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics completed their gentleman's sweep of the Orlando Magic in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the seventh time in the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era.

Currently, the Celtics don't have an opponent for the next round. Their next competitor will be the Detroit Pistons or the New York Knicks, who are still in the middle of their series.

The Pistons kept their season alive the same night the Celtics ended the Magic's, as their 106-103 win over the Knicks in New York sends the series back to Detroit with the Knicks up 3-2.

However, the NBA has announced what the Celtics' schedule will be for the Eastern Conference Semifinals, no matter how the Knicks-Pistons series turns out.

The Athletic's Jared Weiss revealed that the Celtics will play on May 5, May 7, May 10, and May 12. If the series goes past four games, they will also play on May 14, May 16, and May 19.

The NBA has announced the dates for the East 2nd round:

The Cleveland vs Indiana series will be played on May 4, 6, 9, 11, 13*, 15*, 18*.

The Boston vs NYK/DET series will be played on May 5, 7, 10, 12, 14*, 16*, 19*.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) April 30, 2025

This will give the Celtics six days of rest between their last game against the Magic and their first game in this upcoming series, which is big news. Now it's all a matter of who Boston will face in the next round.

The Celtics swept the Knicks in their regular season series in 2025, winning all four games. If those two match up, it will be their first playoff series playing against each other since 2013.

The Celtics won their season series against the Pistons in 2025, winning three out of their four games. If those two match up, it will be their first playoff series playing against each other since 2008.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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