Mark your calendars, Celtics fans.

Boston will raise its championship banner and begin its NBA title defense on Tuesday, Oct. 22 against the New York Knicks at TD Garden, according to a report Monday from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

It’s a fitting opponent for the occasion. The Knicks finished second in the Eastern Conference standings last season and project as one of the Celtics’ top challengers after bolstering their roster with an offseason trade for Mikal Bridges.

The Celtics won the East by 14 games and then blitzed through the playoffs, losing just three times across four series en route to the franchise’s 18th NBA crown.

Boston won’t face its NBA Finals opponent, the Dallas Mavericks, until the new year. This season’s two C’s-Mavs games are set for Jan. 25 in Dallas and Feb. 6 at TD Garden, Charania reported.

Unsurprisingly, the Celtics reportedly will be part of the NBA’s annual Christmas Day showcase, hosting the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 25. The Sixers, who added Paul George to join stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, are another team looking to dethrone the Celtics in the East.

The NBA had yet to release its full regular-season schedule as of Monday afternoon, but that should happen in the coming days. In each of the last two years, the schedule was announced on Aug. 17.

The Celtics have made their five-game preseason schedule public. They’ll open with a pair of exhibitions against the Denver Nuggets in Dubai on Oct. 4 and 6, then face Philadelphia once (home, Oct. 12) and the Toronto Raptors twice (home, Oct. 13; away, Oct. 15).

Boston returns its entire championship-winning core from last season, re-signing reserves Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman and extending starters Jayson Tatum and Derrick White. The Celtics will be shorthanded to begin the upcoming campaign, however, as starting center Kristaps Porzingis is expected to miss at least the first month following offseason leg surgery.