Leave it to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst to be the most rational actor in the national media, as has often been the case in recent years. And again, he was the voice of reason on Thursday, when many were bashing the Celtics for getting blown out, 103-84, by the Nuggets the previous night on national television.
Things got ugly in the second half, and a close game turned into a laugher as Boston seemed to drop the rope and quickly let things slip away. But Windy, rightfully, was unfazed by the result, seeing the bigger picture and understanding why this loss was no big deal for the Celtics. As he relayed on First Take:
“For decades, this has been a trap situation… I’m never going to fault an Eastern Conference team on the second night of a back-to-back in Denver.”
And this is exactly what we saw play out on Wednesday night. The Celtics were playing their third game in four nights, in three different cities, with the final stop on a West Coast road trip coming on the second night of a back-to-back, at altitude in Denver.
That’s a recipe for disaster, no matter how you spin it, and it was worsened by the fact that the Nuggets were well rested and highly motivated after a recent spell of tough losses. They played an inspired game, especially on the defensive end, and the Celtics, predictably, hit a wall and we saw them run out of gas before the end of the third quarter.
Celtics should be thrilled with recent play
Sure, the last leg of the trip is going to leave a sour taste in the mouth, but overall, Celtics fans should be very pleased. Despite the loss, they come home after a very successful 3-1 road trip, having won 9 of their last 11 games, and a 2.5 game lead over the Knicks for the number two seed in the East.
Over that span, they have the best defensive rating in the NBA and the third-best overall. They started off the season with a whirlwind offense, and somehow, over the last month, they’ve morphed into an elite defense.
Whether they can merge the two together in unison remains to be seen, but either way, they’ve proven to have a very high ceiling and a solid floor on both ends of the court. The playoffs are a different animal for a lot of reasons, but the Celtics have done nothing but build good habits all season long.
Those habits are hard to break, and they tend to carry over to the playoffs. They have a lot of unproven players in meaningful roles, but this team has discipline, they have brilliant schematics, top-notch leadership, and the heart of a champion.
No matter how much you’re buying into the Celtics’ play so far this regular season, they’ve gotten themselves squarely into the contenders conversation. That alone is quite an accomplishment, but that alone was never the goal. There’s still a long way to go, but there’s plenty of reason to believe this team will put in the work.