LOS ANGELES -- When the Boston Celtics touched down out west last March, they were a team at a crossroads. Kyrie Irving was prepping for surgery on a balky knee that would eventually cost him his postseason, and a young Celtics roster was staggering a bit in his absence.
Boston ripped off four straight wins on that trip, culminating with Jaylen Brown hitting a last-second game winner in Utah. It might have been the defining stretch of the season, with the Celtics' younger players recognizing during that trip that they had the potential to compete with anyone, even with both Irving and Gordon Hayward sidelined by their injuries.
That trip gave Boston the confidence it oozed on its run to the cusp of the NBA Finals.
Fast-forward a year and the 2018-19 Celtics were likewise in a state of uncertainty as the team trekked west last Sunday on the heels of a disappointing showing against the Houston Rockets. At a time when it felt like the wheels could come off in an already underachieving season, the Celtics responded with two quality wins — thrashing the Golden State Warriors on their home turf with their most complete 48-minute performance of the season, then grinding out a win against a scrappy Sacramento team with Hayward playing hero with his last-second winner.
The Celtics landed in Los Angeles in the early hours of Thursday morning gushing with the positive vibes the early portion of this trip has afforded. There’s a chance to replicate last year’s 4-0 success as Boston preps for two games against Los Angeles teams that it has no shortage of motivation against following two embarrassing losses to those squads last month at home.
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Could this West Coast trip again provide the jolt of confidence the team so desperately needs for a playoff surge?
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For all the parallels, there is one major difference in what happened last year and the potential of this year’s trip. The 2017-18 Celtics had to learn to win without Irving last year. This time around, Boston’s postseason success might hinge on whether this team can figure out how to play to its potential with Kyrie when the roster is at full strength.
That simply hasn’t happened very often this season. And it’s why we all sit there and overanalyze why Boston is 7-0 in its last seven games without Irving but just 2-7 in the nine games he’s been available dating back to early February.
Irving and the Celtics can lean on Tuesday’s performance in Oakland and whether that Golden State game truly provided the Celtics with a blueprint for how to thrive with this group. Can Boston replicate that intensity and energy when the opponent isn’t to the stature of the defending champions?
That’s why the next two games are so important. If the Celtics take their foot off the gas and settle for a 2-2 trip, then the positive energy that’s engulfed the team will dissipate, and they’ll trek home still uncertain about whether they can actually flip a switch come playoffs time.
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But a strong finish out west might be all this team needs to instill a confidence that’s otherwise been fleeting this year, especially given the roller coaster journey.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens has been resistant to make large changes even as his team scuffled recently but he repeatedly stressed that the issues ran deeper than a simple lineup tweak. He’s been rewarded the past two games as Boston has found success with a renewed focus and intensity.
Can they bottle this up? What happens when the team hits the next patch of adversity, and how will they respond? Throughout the season, the Celtics have routinely washed away much of their positive energy with the way they’ve responded to small bouts of adversity. This team needs to be mentally tougher but they’ve shown encouraging glimpses on this trip.
The Celtics found themselves out west last season. And there’s an opportunity here to do the same this time around if they’re willing to continue building off the successes of the first two games of this trip.
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