ATLANTAA new season, a new hole for the Celtics to dig themselves out of.
While the reasons have varied as to why the C's have had their annual slow start, there's no denying that it has become a pattern.
Now with the momentum that comes with back-to-back defensive-fueled victories, the Celtics have a feeling that they are indeed on the verge of turning the corner on their season just like they did a year ago.
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Heck, they even have an identical 16-17 record as last season's squad at this point, a team that advanced to the Eastern Conference finals and came within a game of knocking off eventual NBA champion Miami Heat.
"Last year, it wasn't like we were trying to get in a rut so we could fight our way out of it," said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. "We just were in one. And we made a couple changes and it worked."
The most significant shift made by last year's group was the decision by Rivers to make Kevin Garnett the team's primary center.
Garnett in the middle created a matchup problem for opposing teams, and that created a major boost for the Celtics when it came to winning games.
After muddling around .500, the C's were an impressive 20-8 after the all-star break.
This season's most significant move thus far has been Doc Rivers' decision to revert back to the lineup he had to close out last season which included Avery Bradley and Brandon Bass starting games along with Boston's Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo.
That unit has two starts this season -- both wins.
And barring injuries, it's unlikely that Rivers will tinker with that group for the remainder of this season.
Bradley's recovery slowed the process of Rivers reverting back to his most successful lineup. But that was just one of the many challenges he has faced in molding together a team that looks and plays differently than last year's club.
"This year, we brought in a lot of new players," Rivers said. "I don't think people understand it. People say Rondo, Kevin and Paul and think it's the same team. It's not. It's a completely different team. It takes time. It's taken longer than I would like."
But it's coming together, slowly but surely.
"We just have to keep playing hard, playing together," Bradley told CSNNE.com. "That's what the Celtics are about. That's what we did last year and that's what we're starting to do a better job of right now."