Playoff schedule released: Celtics host Game 1 vs. Pacers on Sunday

Here’s the Celtics’ entire schedule for Round 1 against the Indiana Pacers:

With the Bruins hosting the Maple Leafs on Saturday for Game 2, the NBA Playoffs will start for the Celtics on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden. After closing out the regular season on a 6-2 run and beating the Pacers twice during that stretch, Boston earned home court advantage. They beat the Pacers three out of four times this season with their only loss coming in Indiana on a Victor Oladipo game-winning three. Oladipo, of course, will not be playing in this series. For the Celtics, it looks like they’ll be without Marcus Smart for the duration of at least the first round.

For what it’s worth, Boston was 1-1 in early afternoon starts this season, including a thrilling win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Super Bowl Sunday and a drubbing at the hands of the Houston Rockets just before the team went on the road on their west coast walkabout that turned the season around. Also, with at least two Sunday games and possibly three on the schedule, it’s important to note that Sundays have not been kind to the Celtics. They’re 2-4.