WALTHAM, Mass. – The Boston Celtics players have a fairly open line of communication with one another, able to speak freely on anything and everything whether it’s face-to-face or via group text messages.
The latter method of connecting with one another was recently used by the players to make sure they were all on the same page in what they see as a pivotal stretch of games coming up.
“We had a group message,” Boston’s Amir Johnson recalled. “We got 15-20 more games, let’s get them all before this all-star break. Guys, try to stay locked in for this all-star break.”
We’ll see if those words come to fruition beginning with tonight’s game against the Detroit Pistons at the TD Garden.
Including tonight’s matchup, Boston has 21 games remaining prior to the All-Star break so there’s plenty of opportunities for them to make some moves in what has been a tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race.
Boston (19-15) comes into tonight’s game currently seventh in the Eastern Conference with a half-game lead on the Pistons (19-16).
And while Cleveland is considered the best team in the Eastern Conference, it’s not like the Cavaliers (23-9) are running away with the Conference crown.
Boston Celtics
But the deeper we get into the season, separation in the conference is inevitable.
That’s why to some degree there’s an increasing sense of urgency among the Celtics, who are seeking a second straight trip to the playoffs after a post all-streak break surge last year that catapulted them into the postseason after a one-year absence.
“Eventually teams are going to start pulling away,” said Boston’s Evan Turner. “We have to pull away and win games we’re supposed to and win games we’re not.”
Although the Celtics have played somewhat better with wins in five of their last seven games, the two losses – both at home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, respectively – sting for many reasons.
Obviously, losing home games hurts
But to lose at home to a pair of the league’s worst teams is even more painful. Both Los Angeles and Brooklyn are part of the league’s bottom-5 teams, a group of teams that Boston has a not-so impressive 4-3 record against this season.
Had Boston won both of those games, they would be on a seven-game winning streak, have the third-best record in the East and be well on their way to doing exactly what they talked about in their recent group text message.
But there’s no time to think about what could have been.
“Just being focused,” Johnson said. “We know who we are as a team. We know we’re inconsistent right now; we’re up and down. We lose to some teams we probably should beat. I feel this is a time we should really lock in and start getting these games in bunches. The season is closing down. We want to try and get these wins in bunches.”