After a 118–109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Boston Celtics now have a three-game winning streak going where they are starting to look like the team they want to be. It’s pretty astonishing that it took them this long to get their act together considering the Celtics were pinned as a favorite to win the East and contend for a championship. Obviously, both can still happen, but it seems the Celtics have lacked a true sense of chemistry in the first few weeks of the season.
“I think we all wanted to win individually, but I think we all wanted to win on our terms, our own terms,” Kyrie Irving said in a postgame interview after beating the Timberwolves on Saturday. Irving also acknowledged that he believes that they are “getting past that now.” The fact that he is willing to say this now must mean that the Celtics have made strides to becoming the team they want to be chemistry-wise, but are they the team they want to be skill-wise yet?
The Celtics have shown glimpses of the team they want to be in the first few weeks of the season, but have yet to put it all together on a consistent basis. However, in their current three-game winning streak they have started to look like the team we all expected them to be. So, what changed over the past three games?
In the past three games, the Celtics have been able to put up good numbers offensively rather than have to rely heavily on their defense. In Boston’s current winning streak, they have scored at least 118 points in every game, and none of them went into overtime. Before their 124–107 win over the Pelicans, the most points the Celtics scored in a game was on Nov. 16 against the Toronto Raptors, where they scored 123 points and it took them overtime to do so.
Another big factor to the Celtics’ success is based on how Gordon Hayward plays. In the Celtics’ previous win against the Timberwolves, Hayward was finally able to hit the 20-point mark in one game, but he did not stop there. Hayward was able to get 30 points and put together eight assists and nine rebounds off the bench. If the Celtics can continue to get similar production from Hayward, then they will be a force to be reckoned with.
Probably the biggest reason for Boston’s current success and future success is Irving’s consistency. So far this season, Irving has averaged 22.2 points per game and has a 48 percent field goal percentage. If Irving can continue to put up numbers like this and Hayward continues to play well, then they can really take the pressure off of players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
One last thing that will factor into the Celtics’ success this season is injuries. Last year, the Celtics were forced to go the entire postseason without Hayward and Irving and were still only one win away from the NBA Finals. So far this season, there has yet to be any major injuries to any of the Celtics. If they can remain this healthy going into the playoffs, then they have a real shot at a title. But first we need a little more proof that this current winning streak the Celtics are on is not just a fluke and that they really are the real deal.