Stevens: Celtics final 10-game playoff push will be ‘fun'

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WALTHAM, Mass. – If you look at the Celtics’ final 10 games of the season, every game has the look and feel of a dogfight-in-the-making.

The Detroit Pistons (28-44) are the worst of the lot, but they split the first two games with Boston, and, as long as Andre Drummond is on the floor, the Celtics will have their hands full.

And yet when I asked coach Brad Stevens about this daunting stretch that awaits his squad, he described it as “fun.”

Huh?

“You’re playing 10 straight games with teams that are playing for something,” Stevens told CSNNE.com prior to practice on Saturday. “You’re playing 10 straight games … every one of them is a team that’s either in the mix already (for the playoffs) or fighting to be in the mix. That should make it fun.”

"Fun” times await Boston beginning Sunday evening against ex-Celtics coach Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers (48-25) who come in as the NBA’s hottest team with a six-game winnings streak and wins in eight of their past 10.
After the Clippers, the Celtics' remaining schedule includes the following:

*At Charlotte on Monday
*Indiana on Wednesday
*Milwaukee on Friday
*At Toronto on Saturday
*At Detroit on April 8
*At Cleveland on April 10
*Cleveland on April 12
*Toronto on April 14
*At Milwaukee on April 15

Celtics veteran Brandon Bass has been in the playoffs before with Boston.

Still, the Celtics were among the league’s top teams for most years, so a playoff berth was never in question.

But this season, Bass knew this was supposed to be another rebuilding year in Boston which more often than not doesn’t end with a playoff berth as was the case last season when the Celtics were just 25-57.

So the idea that the Celtics (32-40) are hitting the final month of this season deeply entrenched in a playoff push – Boston is holding down the eighth and final playoff spot – is something he’s excited about.

“It feels good. It feels good,” Bass said. “We’re building, getting better. It feels good when you can see some type reward out of it, success from hard work.”

Jonas Jerebko was acquired from Detroit just prior to the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

A second-round pick by the Pistons in 2009, Jonas Jerebko has never been to the playoffs.

So for him, being part of a playoff push – a first for him this late in the season – is a refreshing change of pace from what he’s used to this time of year.

“It feels great,” Jerebko said. “Every game matters. You’re playing for something. That’s what you want to do. It’s a situation I want to be in. I love it; every game matters.”

Isaiah Thomas, back the last two games after missing the previous eight with a back injury, is also new to this whole playoff push stuff after playing three seasons for the Sacramento Kings and the first half of this season with the Phoenix Suns.

He’s quick to say that being part of a team that’s in the hunt for the postseason means a lot to him.

“Every game counts,” Thomas told reporters after the 96-92 win at New York on Friday night. “Every possession is very important. It’s different but it’s fun to be a part of.”

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