Best signs from the Boston Celtics’ five-game win-streak

What has been, for the most part, a season of highs and lows for this Celtic’s group will pale in comparison to the takes that will arise after Saturday’s clash against the Golden State Warriors. 

What has been built up to be the truest test of what this Celtics team is capable of will ultimately not provide all of the answers on what this team will look like by April, May, or even June: but in the meantime, the Celtics have been rolling, and this is what they’ve been doing right.

Firstly, and possibly most importantly, Gordon Hayward looks to be regaining his confidence. It’s no mystery the key to maximizing this Celtics’ team falls on Hayward’s shoulders. Him regaining his confidence doesn’t always translate to him being his best self: there’s a good chance that the Hayward we see come playoff time is a completely different player than right now. But the signs are there he’s getting into his groove.

In the very beginning of the season, Hayward would look out of sync, and look to dish the ball away every time he would come off a screen. Now, he is coming off of screens looking to score first, which is what the Celtics need from him and the main reason they signed him to a max contract over a year ago. He is best when he has the ball in his hands, coming off screens, and creating for others or finding space for himself.

Secondly, Kyrie Irving is getting his teammates involved and doing more than just looking for the basket every trip down the court. Irving posted a career-high 18 assists in a thrilling victory against the Toronto Raptors and has been averaging 11 assists per game over this past stretch of home games.

In both examples above, you see Irving putting in an extra effort on the defensive end, and being rewarded on the other end with his teammates nailing important shots.

For what seems like the first time in his career Irving is actively looking for his teammate’s shots, instead of getting his assist from dump-offs or last-resorts when he can’t get his shot off. In these videos, Irving is seemingly addressing the two biggest critiques on his game: his lack of defensive effort and his inability to make his teammates better around him.

Finally, the Celtics have finally gotten Al Horford back: meaning they got the version of Horford that carried two straight Celtics teams to the Eastern Conference Finals. Many were starstruck by what Isaiah Thomas was doing two years ago, and the same crowd was taken aback by what the young Celtics were doing last year – Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum.

However, the real reason the Celtics were able to make it to back-to-back Conference Finals happens to be their perennial all-star center. Horford is the glue that holds the team together and the defensive anchor in the middle who can guard a range of stars: from some of the most athletic forwards in the game (Giannis Antentokumpo) to some of the strongest bigs in the league (Joel Embiid). When Horford is out on the court, controlling the pace, and dictating the flow of the game, the C’s have been virtually unbeatable. And if the Celtics have any chance of making it far in the playoffs this season, ‘Playoff Al’ is going to be a key reason why.

The Celtics will get their biggest test of the season soon. And with that an avalanche of ‘hot takes’. However, tonight isn’t the sole determinant of what the Celtics will look like come June. They are still figuring it all out, and have looked pretty good doing so as of recent.