Don't look now, but the Boston Celtics are coming.
The Celtics have won ten of their last 14 games and all of a sudden have found themselves tied for eighth in the East playoff race with the Toronto Raptors following their 113-107 win over the Hornets at the TD Garden on Wednesday night, despite 38 points, nine assists and six rebounds from the Hornets' LaMelo Ball.
The win brings the C's to three games over .500 for the first time all season (28-25).
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The win also ties their season-long winning streak at three and gives them some breathing room with a 2.5 game lead in front of the tenth-placed Atlanta Hawks.
More importantly, they are now just half a game back of the Hornets in seventh place, and with the way the Celtics have been playing, there is no reason to think they can't catch the more inexperienced team very soon.
The Celtics have won 10 of their last 14 games.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 3, 2022
They have the best defensive rating and FG% defense in the NBA since Christmas. pic.twitter.com/hi0hNfTRVE
Only the Phoenix Suns have won more games than the Celtics over the past 14 games, and no team has a higher defensive rating than Boston over that time frame either (101.8).
A big reason for the success the Celtics have had in January and now into February is the health of its starting unit. They’ve had their regular starting five active now for five consecutive games, which marks the longest such stretch of the season.
At Wednesday morning's shootaround prior to the game, Josh Richardson said the continuity of having regular lineups was a huge factor in the Celtics being able to turn their season around.
“I think we’ve found some continuity and what we're gonna have to bring to the table every night,” Richardson said.
“And once we all get to doing our job at the highest level, then hopefully we can keep stringing these games. We’ve won like nine of our last 13, but we’d like to go on a little streak. So hopefully we can start getting that right now, start keeping that consistency, and move forward.”
The Jays connect on the break in tonight’s @JetBlue Play of the Game 🔨 pic.twitter.com/JywxjajevK
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 3, 2022
Against the Hornets, however, head coach Ime Udoka opted for a short eight-man rotation and it was the bench that brought the game home for Boston, led by Josh Richardson's 23 points
Boston is now 18-10 at home while holding a 19-14 record against other Eastern Conference teams.