Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics are coming off a 3-1 Western road trip that could have been 4-0 if not for a two-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
That feel-good buzz shouldn’t last too long, with Houston coming to TD Garden on Saturday night. A Rockets team that has already beaten the Boston Celtics once this season has what may be the most challenging offense in the league to defend.
But the Celtics also have a growing well of proof that they are at home in these showcase TV scenarios, as evidenced by their just-completed 3-1 western road trip, which came within two points in the Staples Center of being a sweep.
Even though rarely healthy, the Celtics are routinely beating playoff teams, as the Lakers, Clippers, Thunder, Spurs, Jazz and Blazers (the latter two currently outside the West’s top eight) have discovered since the new year.
Should Kemba Walker return soon from his four-game knee-related hiatus and combine with the rising stars of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, it could actually get better. So says Marcus Smart.
“I think for us, it’s No. 1. For me being here, it’s No. 1,” the Celtics guard said of whether he’s been on a better Celtics team.
“We go on these road trips and we come out and we win the first game, then we lose the rest. This time it was opposite,” he said. “We lost one, we won three. So I definitely think the way we’ve been playing is top-notch level.”
Tatum had to think about that one.
“We won like 16 games in a row my rookie year. That was crazy,” Tatum said, thinking back to when he led the Celtics to the 2018 conference finals despite the absences of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. “But nah, it’s gotta be up there as long as I’ve been on the Celtics. Everybody’s playing well, everybody’s contributing. We’re doing good. Taking one game at a time.”
And trying to mend in time for the playoffs – thus the caution afforded Walker’s balky knee. Rob Williams, who has been bounding across the floor during his pregame workouts, will bring an athletic shot-blocking presence off the bench once he returns from a hip injury that wiped out most of the young center’s season.
“We just have to play off each other and play the game the right way. If we play the right way I think everything will take care of itself and things like that,” said Brown. “When adversity hits, come together instead of separating. And everybody be a leader of their own space. Make sure we hold each other accountable, make sure we be aggressive and make sure we see the bigger picture. And I think we’ll be fine.”
Asked about the number of quality wins the Celtics are piling up, Brown said, “It’s about us. That’s how we see it. It’s less about the opponent and more about us. We feel like if we come out and we prepare to win and we do our jobs, no matter who we’re playing against we give ourselves a chance to win. Three and one on this road trip was pretty good for us. We should have been 4-0.
“A lot of areas,” he said of where the Celtics can improve. “On offense, making the right reads, delivering it on time and just little stuff. Even just a split second on something can make a big difference.
“On defense being there on rotations, playing without fouling, being more communicative, talking more. Being more physical, being more mentally sound and things like that. It’s only going to get better as it gets closer. The levels are starting to ascend and things like that. You’re starting to see it now. But it’s only the tip of the iceberg. I’m looking forward to the playoffs because I’m definitely going to raise my level.”
It’s all about resiliency, said Smart.
“You heard us saying it, a lot of guys saying how resilient we are, but when you’re getting ready for the second half of the season, getting ready for the playoffs, you’ve got to be resilient,” he said. “That’s the only way you’re going to accomplish anything. We did it, we continue to keep showing it, continue to keep proving to ourselves we can do it.”
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