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Boston Celtics: Schedule Stays in the Extremes

By Joshua Bateman

BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 28: Head Coach Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics looks on during the game against the Houston Rockets on December 28, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 28: Head Coach Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics looks on during the game against the Houston Rockets on December 28, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Celtics are getting all kinds of time off after going through the most cluttered stretch of the year

The Boston Celtics just went through one of the most cluttered stretches ever with their schedule, going a month without getting consecutive days off, and literally no time to practice. The Celtics hit their low point of the season on that stretch, and never really played any consistently good basketball.

The Celtics managed to survive that stretch, coming out as the number one seed. Immediately after they got some rest they go on this six game winning streak, playing their bet basketball of the season. Now, we are coming up on the event that caused these schedule problems, as the Celtics play the Philadelphia 76ers in London.

The Celtics requested extra days off because of the adjustment that has to be made going to London, and that meant the Celtics would have to open up the season with a lot more games than they are used to. Now the Celtics start a stretch of playing one game over eight straight days.

The Celtics never got an opportunity to really break out of their slump because of so many games when they were struggling. Now that they are playing their best basketball, they get an unprecedented break in the middle of the season.

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It is a shame that they do not get to keep this streak going right away, but there is no doubt that the time off is going to be great. The Celtics are as healthy as they are going to be all season long, and they will come out of this eight game stretch in what should be the best condition in the NBA.

Brad Stevens gets a real chance to address all the issues that came up during the bad stretch, and keeping them fresh clearly has an impact on their defense and rebounding. A lot of what the Celtics do on defense has to do with their energy and defense, and they burned out during that stretch.

The Celtics have a great opportunity to be the freshest team in the NBA, but it could be difficult to get right back into it, playing the way they were over the last six games. The team will be going through a lot of different things with this trip to London, and they cannot let it throw off their game.

The Celtics look like they have a decently comfortable lead in East right now, but the Raptors and Cavaliers have an opportunity to gain a lot of ground with games in hand. The Celtics are likely to see their lead go down during this stretch, and they need to be able to come out of this ready to build another winning streak.

We saw what happened when the schedule got far too cluttered for the Celtics. Their defense fell apart and they could not consistently win games. Now they get the other extreme with more rest than any team is used to dealing with at this point in the season.

What the Celtics can see is that once this stretch is done, they can go on their real playoff push. They have been winning a lot of games, but have struggled to put together complete games on both ends of the court. They need to get their defense and offense playing at the highest level at the same time if they want success in the playoffs, and they could not ask to be in a better position to go on that run after this stretch.

They will be rested, they should be healthy and they will have had more time to prepare and adjust. We have seen how good the Celtics can be on both ends, and Stevens now gets a lot of time to figure out what can be done to get that balance on both ends. Stevens has always seen his teams improve in the second half of the season, and this strange schedule settles right around the mid point for them.

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The Celtics have a much better idea of what they need to do to win, and how deadly their offense can be when it functions properly. It will be a tough race to hold onto the number one seed in the East, but the Celtics have to feel great about the position they are in.

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