by Nelly's Sports
Wednesday, Dec 31, 2025The new year is a critical turning point in the NBA schedule as we approach the halfway point of the season in January, a few weeks before the actual All-Star Break. Here is a look at the schedules in January for the current top four teams in the Eastern Conference standings.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons closed December with a west coast trip and will be at home for seven of the first eight games of January. That might lead one to think that the Pistons will have a great opportunity to extend their Eastern Conference lead but the schedule is about to get more difficult in terms of the level of competition. The Pistons have had the weakest schedule in the NBA at this point thanks to Milwaukee and Indiana struggling greatly, while Cleveland hasn’t matched last season’s pace in a Central division that was much more competitive in most recent seasons. Detroit is in Cleveland for a big game for the first weekend of the month while the mid-January home stand includes tough games with the Knicks, Suns, and Celtics. Detroit closes the month with another set of west coast games while also having a home date with Houston late in January as the Pistons could have a difficult month, even with only five January road games.
New York Knicks: The Knicks are 23-9 overall but a NBA-best 15-2 home record sits next to a .500 road mark. The Knicks have five road games in the first 15 days of January after closing out 2025 with a trip to San Antonio. New York has road games in Detroit, Phoenix, and Golden State early in the month before a more favorable second half of January schedule. February looks more difficult for the Knicks as January looks likely to be a positive month for the Knicks to maintain their pace as one of the top Eastern Conference contenders. Only two of six home games in January for New York are against winning teams and those games with Philadelphia and Phoenix aren’t overly threatening.
Boston Celtics: The Celtics remain an Eastern Conference contender even while not necessarily being all-in for this season. Boston will have a road-heavy January that could bump the Celtics further down the standings however. Boston is on the road for eight of 16 games in January, finishing up a road trip out west to start 2026 and then facing a stretch of six of seven games on the road in the middle of the month. The early January home stand is a difficult one with Denver, Toronto, and San Antonio all visiting Boston in the span of four days. Boston doesn’t have the toughest January schedule in terms of the opposition but there are two back-to-back sets plus several taxing weeks as the Celtics aren’t likely to make a big move upward in January.
Toronto Raptors: A surprise team to still be in the top four of the Eastern Conference standings, Toronto has been a streaky team that won nine in a row in November to reach 14-5 but has gone 6-9 since. January could derail the season for the Raptors even further with nine road games in the month including road games with the Celtics, Lakers, Warriors, Thunder, and Magic. Six of the final seven January games are on the road in a brutal stretch of the schedule as the lone home game in that run will be against the Knicks. Toronto plays Atlanta and Philadelphia at home four times early in the month in key games vs. similar teams in the Eastern Conference picture. Making the playoffs in the Eastern Conference this season may not be a high bar to reach but the Raptors are likely to continue to slide closer to the cut line.
