The Boston Celtics cannot be playing down to the Chicago Bulls
The Boston Celtics have looked like a new team since the All Star break, and it feels like people are finally starting to forget how horrible they were before the All Star game. The offense has looked better than ever, and Marcus Smart got the defense back on track. They lost to the Houston Rockets, but nobody is taking that game as a negative for the Celtics.
They are back to playing quality basketball, and still control their destiny when it comes to the top seed. The Celtics have now proved on multiple occasions that they can be competitive against the top teams in the league, but they have other more pressing problems for this season.
One of the biggest reasons the Celtics are behind the Raptors in the standings now is because of how many times they have played down to their competition, and let lesser teams hang around too often. They will give up crazy runs, and need crazy comebacks. For whatever reason, the Celtics do not bring their best against lesser teams, and that cannot happen anymore.
The Celtics have been playing consistently and balanced with a bench that is killing teams. If the Celtics just do that against teams below them, then they will have no problem winning. Unfortunately, it is impossible to trust the Celtics will do that, even when the team has been as bad as the Chicago Bulls.
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There is absolutely no excuse what so ever for the Celtics to lose their next game against the Bulls, but that mentality is what has killed this team this season. The Bulls have gone on runs where they have played great, and have young players who want to prove a lot. The Celtics have the talent to blow them away, but the moment they take that for granted, they are at their most vulnerable.
The good news is that the Celtics have not fallen into that trap since the end of the break. The Celtics felt like they had something to prove again after their struggles, and they have started doing that. The Celtics handled weaker teams with no problem out of the gate, but the worst thing would be if that success changes their mentality at all.
The Celtics need to come in and punish the Bulls, and make the kind of statement that they are ready to consistently play their best for their final playoff push. The Celtics look like they have made progress, but we have seen these stretches before. The Celtics are approaching levels of consistency and balance that we have not seen yet, but it will take more time to actually prove that.
It has been a while since the Celtics have gone on a long stretch where they continually play well on a nightly basis, and following up a great fought loss against the Rockets with a loss to the Bulls would ruin any good grace they gained since the break.
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The next game against the Bulls is far from a landmark on the season, and will not change this season in any way. That being said, the Celtics are running out of time to prove they can consistently play well, and everyone wants to see them putting away these level of teams nice and early.