Noontime Sports

Does Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics have what it takes to win the NBA Championship in June of 2012?

By Matt Noonan 

The NBA Lockout is far from over. However, the league announced on Tuesday the 2011-12 regular season schedule, which hopefully is a sign of progress.

Although, despite the ongoing NBA drama, here’s 10 games that Boston Celtics fans will certainly want to circle on their calendars, especially if the season starts in November.

Boston at Miami (Nov. 16) – Seriously, who isn’t intrigued by this particular matchup? The newest version of the “Big-3” failed against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA championship this past June, plus, between the ongoing lockout and time apart, Miami should be pretty rusty for the aging Celtics legs.

Boston at Orlando (Nov. 17) – Boston-Orlando has turned into “can’t-miss” television, so, mark your calendars fans, as the Green and White will look win back-to-back games in Florida on this particular weekend in November.

Miami at Boston (Dec. 1) – This matchup should be more intense, especially since it will be at the Garden. Can you imagine the fans reactions when LeBron Jamesis introduced over the public address system? Should be interesting!

Boston at New York Knicks (Dec. 25) – Santa should deliver quite an exciting Christmas Day treat, especially if both teams are healthy. Although this time around, New York’s “Big-3,” (Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups) should know to how to play with one another, so let’s hope for an exciting holiday contest.

Dallas at Boston (Jan. 11) – The Mavericks won their first NBA championship in franchise history last season, so you can expect the Northeast championship tour to be somewhat exciting, especially against the Celtics.

Oklahoma City at Boston (Jan. 16) – This game will totally be worth watching, especially if the Green and White’s old friends, Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson remain with the Thunder. Yet, why did I write that particular sentence? Well, apparently Robinson wants to play football these days; yet, they’re somewhat in a lockout too, right?

Los Angles Lakers at Boston (Feb. 9) – The last time the Lakers invaded the Garden was when the Celtics watched Ray Allen hit his 2,561^st three-pointer. Any chance he’ll break another record against Boston’s rival?

Chicago at Boston (Feb. 12) – Ever since their epic seven-game duel in the ’09 playoffs, Chicago has challenged Boston a great deal. Although with youth, talent and Tom Thibodeau on their side, Chicago should run away with this game, but let’s hope that’s not true.

Boston at Houston (Feb. 19) – Once upon a time, Kevin McHale played for the Celtics, but now, he’s the new head coach for the Houston Rockets, so this is another, “can’t-miss” television event. Hopefully The Office won’t be on that evening!

Boston at San Antonio (Mar. 25) – At this point, both teams should have locked up playoff spots, yet, playing in San Antonio can be challenging, especially for the Celtics, who are [38-40] all time against the Spurs.