Boston Celtics: 3 key improvements for rest of the season
The All-Star break has come and gone and teams are starting to switch their focus on making a final push toward the playoffs. If the Boston Celtics want to finish as the No. 1 seed, then they’ll need to fix these three things.
The Boston Celtics started the season very strong and looked to be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. The past few weeks, however, have been a bit of struggle, with the team going 5-5 in its last 10 games. You could still argue that the Celtics are the team to beat in the East, but there are certainly other teams that have different opinions on that.
The Toronto Raptors have been a team that has surprised everyone and look like the new team to beat in the East. Everyone knew they were talented and a good team – more than likely a top-four seed; but did anyone expect them to hold the 1-seed after the All-Star break?
A huge reason to this surprise has been the MVP-caliber play out of All-Star DeMar DeRozan. The Celtics are 1-1 against the Raptors, but did recently lose to them and it was not a game to remember for Boston.
Beyond that, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to be an improved team after some massive roster changes before the trade deadline. They won their final four games before the break, even taking one away from the Celtics, winning by 22 points.
The Washington Wizards are even a team to watch, even more so when they get John Wall back from his injury. The last handful of games are not to be taken lightly because there are plenty of teams that are still in it for the No. 1 seed. Sure, the Wizards may be eight games behind, but it’s the NBA. Anything is possible.
As of now, the Celtics have a 40-19 record and that is nothing to be upset about, but when you look at the recent skid they’ve been on, one would hope for better. Before falling apart, they had a 34-10 record and since then they’ve gone 6-9, including one four-game losing streak and a current three-game losing streak.
Sadly, their schedule isn’t anything to be too excited about. The Celtics have just 23 games remaining and a good portion of that are teams in the playoffs or making a push toward the postseason:
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/19/2018.
This is not a good stretch for the Celtics, especially when you consider their struggles in the past 15 games or so. None of these teams are going to make life easy, even if they are the bottom-feeders of the league.
But don’t worry, it’s not all that bad for the Boston Celtics … as long as they can do these three things.