Sunday’s win over the Toronto Raptors marked the fifth game in seven nights for the Boston Celtics. It was the second time this season that they’ve played that many times in a single week, which is pretty wild considering that 10 of their 24 games were packed into 14 days.
This time, the Celtics fared better than the last, winning all five matchups, compared to logging a 3-2 record over the first five-in-seven run. What makes this recent run even more impressive is that many felt it could be the toughest stretch of the season. The 10 scheduled games from Nov. 23 to Dec. 20 (not including the late additions vs. the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons) were all against teams in the top six of their respective conferences, at least as the stretch approached.
After logging a 7-1 record through their first eight tests, albeit with some key opposing players missing, the Celtics have some time to catch their breath. They’ll play just two games in the 11-day NBA Cup break, before returning to a more normal, busy schedule through the end of 2025.
This little break could take Boston’s current five-game winning streak and launch it to another level. They won’t completely have to lose the momentum they’ve been riding, but also don’t have to go out there every night and put tons of miles on their legs.
The Celtics have it easy through the end of 2025
It helps that their next matchup is against the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Bucks. They’ve won just one of their eight games and counting without the Greek Freak so far this season.
The Celtics will get another test after that, though. The first-place Detroit Pistons will be back at TD Garden for a rematch with Boston, after last month’s NBA Cup thriller. Detroit should be the toughest remaining matchup before the turn of the new year.
Once they’re done with the Pistons, the Cs have dates with the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers (twice), Portland Trail Blazers, and Utah Jazz. Miami and Toronto are both off to strong starts this season, but they’re not unbeatable by any means.
Meanwhile, the Pacers, Blazers, and Jazz are all well below .500.
Some rest might do the Celtics some good, too
The schedule is favorable, not only from a competition standpoint, but in regard to health, too. Boston has been fortunate with injuries (aside from Jayson Tatum) so far this season. They’ve hardly had key players miss any time at all, and have made the most of it.
As fun as it’s been to watch the Cs outperform expectations, it could all come crashing down if they were to lose Jaylen Brown, or really any key contributor, for an extended period of time.
“Health is key,” Brown told Hardwood Houdini last month. “You see a lot of guys getting injured going around the league and sitting out games. I want to play as many games as I possibly can. I had some injuries last year that kind of derailed me towards the end of the season. So, health was a big emphasis going into the year. Then, at the start of the season, going into the preseason, I had a hamstring strain. Not ideal, but the medical staff managed it well, and I think I’m getting over the hump.”
So many star players around the association, like Antetokounmpo, have already had to miss significant time. The Bucks are actually a great example of how fragile a season could be. They got off to a decent start at 8-5, then lost 10 of their next 12 once Giannis went down. Even when he returned briefly, they were out of sorts.
Boston has had to play just one game without Brown, who missed Thursday’s meeting with the Washington Wizards due to illness. They took care of business, handily, putting up a league-high 146 points on the last-place Wizards.
Is that sustainable? Who knows?
But, for now, we can all be thankful that the Celtics have some time to recharge before they ramp up again.