OK so, I got a bit of a format / scheduling question.
The notion with the unscheduled games during the IST knockouts was that most teams would get their last 2 games scheduled, ideally based on the in-conference but out-of-division teams they don't already play a full 4 times. As you all know, in a normal NBA schedule, you play 4 games (2 home, 2 away) in-division, 2 games (1 home, 1 away) vs the other conference, and then either 3 or 4 games vs the in-conference but out-of-division teams. For the 80 scheduled games the Celtics have, the eastern-conference out-of-division teams who we only have 3 games against as of now were: Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago / Miami, Charlotte, Orlando. The ideal outcome / default expectation would've been, getting 1 additional game against each division, so one from each of those groups, one of which was home and the other away.
Welp, of those 6 teams it would've been convenient / balanced to schedule against, zero ended up making the knockout rounds. Instead, we play @ Indy (out-of-division but already have 4 games scheduled against them) next Monday at 7:30pm for our 81st game, and then we'll play one of Milwaukee (out-of-division but have 4 games already) or NY Knicks (in-division) as our 82nd game - as a semifinal in Vegas if we win @ Pacers, or vs the loser of their game, probably at home, if we lose.
This presents a few dilemmas to the NBA league office, which I imagine they must have a plan for, but I haven't seen public discussion of:
(1) The other Eastern QF game is NYK @ Milwaukee. Suppose Boston and the Knicks, the two road teams, both win. Then both teams are effectively giving up a home game in exchange for a Vegas semifinal game. Does this affect the fans at all? Do Boston and NY season-ticket-holders get priority for the Vegas tickets? Do we get half of the gate? If Milwaukee were to win at home instead, would we get 100% of the gate, in replacement of our 41st home game?
(2) Conversely, suppose both Boston and the Knicks lose, and both home teams win. Then for our 82nd game, we get a 5th game against the Knicks, on Fri Dec 8th. Both teams would have played their 81st game as a road game, so they'd be expecting a home game. Instead, one of them will end up playing on the road, having 42 total road games and 40 total home games that year, and the other gets a 42nd home game. (and likewise for the Western conference). How is the league office compensating for that? Are they splitting the gate? Changing venue for a game against another team so-affected, swapping who's home and road to re-balance it?
(3) Finally, this ad-hoc scheduling would've worked out nicely if the team pairs with only 3 games between them had ended up either advancing or not advancing, but instead we're going to get a lot of 5th-matchup games. But alternatively, you could probably find spots in the schedule to swap opponents, where for example if we end up playing the Knicks (in the SF or as a consolation game), then on one of the other nights we're scheduled to play the Knicks in the rest of the season, identify two in-conference teams playing each other, one of whom Boston only has 3 games against, and the other of whom New York only has 3 games against, and change the schedule so that instead of those two matchups, they get swapped to 4th-games against those other two teams. There may not be many options for that which would satisfy all criteria, but I guess the question is, would the league look at switching out opponents in order to incrementally re-balance the schedule, even if the game were months away, or do they consider those things sacred and worry that some fans have bought tickets assuming they'd get to see (e.g.) Boston vs New York specifically?
Let me know if you guys either know what the league plans to do, or offer an opinion on what they should do (which might be "nothing, who cares, everyone's getting paid"). I have absolutely no idea on the latter. Personally, I like balanced schedules where possible, but in an 82-game season where more than half the league makes the playoffs, I think any overall slant or effect is small. But if there's an opportunity to re-balance things a bit, I'd rather notify fans of a change months in advance and go do it if you can. Maybe you can't, but at least try. As for the teams giving up a home game (or getting an extra one), I have to imagine they have some sort of revenue-sharing plan to make everyone whole.