The Celtics will venture out West for a five-game road trip in early March. Expect this swing to prove whether or not Boston is a contender or simply a pretender in the Eastern Conference this season.
The Boston Celtics enjoyed plenty of identity-forming moments over the course of the 2015-16 season, such as Avery Bradley knocking off the eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena with a buzzer-beating game-winner, or the team lavishing in successful five-game winning streaks to close out the months of January and February. However, the true character of the squad was formed over eight nights spent in the Pacific time zone.
In the midst of battling for a lucrative positioning in the postseason, the Celtics hit the road for five games against Western Conference opponents in late March. It was on this trip that winning streaks were cemented, chemistry was formed, and adversity was overcome. The team finished off a four-game winning streak by defeating the Phoenix Suns in a vigorous 102-99 battle before undergoing a rough patch in frustrating, nearly uncontested losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers.
The pair of defeats placed Boston behind the 8-ball heading into their toughest test of the season, a matchup against the soon-to-be 73-9 Golden State Warriors in Oracle Arena, where the team had walked off the floor victorious on an astounding 54 consecutive occasions. Unfazed by their losing streak or the immense odds placed against them, the Celtics battled their doubters and emerged with a thrilling 109-106 triumph to place themselves in the national spotlight. The team finished off their road trip with a convincing 107-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, putting the beginning touches on a four-game winning streak which catapulted them into the postseason with considerable momentum.
This season, the Celtics will have a similar vacation to the western region of the United States in the latter portion of the season. Early March features a grueling five-game trip that will assess the honest character of the team. The seven-day excursion tell us whether Boston is a contender or pretender in the Eastern Conference, as it once again features tilts against the Clippers and Warriors sandwiched in between bouts in Phoenix, Los Angeles, against the resurgent purple-and-gold, and a trip to Denver to face Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray, and the upstart Nuggets.
Making matters more difficult is that the trip comes directly on the heels against potentially the most highly-anticipated game on the Celtics home slate, a nationally-televised encounter with the defending-champion Cavaliers. Although the All-Star break comes shortly before this stretch, it is likely that the squad will be suffering from the typical bodily woes that are inevitable when approaching the conclusion of an 82-game season.
While Boston will be expected to knock off their first two opponents on the trip, neither presents a guaranteed, stomp-over victory. The Lakers’ young core of point guard D’Angelo Russell and small forward Brandon Ingram will have formatted a rapport by then on the offensive side of the ball, and the Suns feature a gauntlet of guards in Devin Booker, Brandon Knight, and Eric Bledsoe that could cause fits for the Celtics contingent.
Then, the true value judgement of where the Celtics stand on the contender scale hits. Depending on where Boston sits in the standings come early March, it is likely that the team will need to emerge victorious from at least one of their engagements with the Clippers and Warriors. The bout with Los Angeles will come on the back-end of an excruciating back-to-back. Making matters more difficult, the Clippers will be featuring a healthy Blake Griffin, hungry in the latter stages of a contract year, barring a trade deadline deal. Additionally, DeAndre Jordan will present a magnanimous task for newly-acquired center Al Horford in the low post, a brilliant defender with some improved post moves of his own.
Following their bout with the Clippers, the Celtics will then charter up the coast of California for a date with who many are calling the best team ever assembled on paper, Golden State. While Boston did a tremendous job of containing the formidable shooting tandem of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in their shocking victory over the Warriors on April Fool’s Day, the acquisition of Kevin Durant and the development of Draymond Green into an MVP-caliber headliner transforms the team into an entirely new beast. This contest is undoubtedly the toughest on the Celtics schedule heading into the 2016-17 season, and it comes in the middle of a demanding week of airplanes and hotels.
While it may be a catalyst in the building of fatigue in the bodies of players, the immense amount of travel that the team will undergo during the trip could also be of tremendous assistance. For an NBA team, there is no better way to cement team camaraderie than experiencing a successful week away from the friendly confines of home. Last season, Boston garnered a substantial boost of confidence by recording a win over the winningest team ever in a single season, an achievement which attracted the likes of Horford while providing the team with high expectations heading into 2016-17.
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This March, a similar type of trip could be an instrumental part of a lengthy postseason journey for the Celtics.