Boston's confidence is surging and they know what they are
The Boston Celtics are 14-10, which is good enough for the seven seed if the season ended today. That's exactly where they were last year, but lately, this team has gone to a new level.
Despite their double overtime loss against the Golden State Warriors, the Celtics are playing with extreme confidence, and closing most of their tight games.
They still don't have a star player, but their coach and their defense is more than enough. Here's ESPN Boston with more:
Their backcourt is carrying an offense that most thought would be stale. Isaiah Thomas is an All-Star and Avery Bradley is one of the better two-way shooting guards in the entire league.
The pieces elsewhere are starting to fit, and guys are accepting their roles. It's a team that might be closer to the championship than they seem.
In the immediate and emotional aftermath of Friday's double-overtime loss to the Warriors, Celtics coach Brad Stevens swatted down the notion that there's such a thing as a "great loss" and made sure to stress that there's "not even a good one." Stevens would later relent that there were positives his team might eventually pluck from defeat. In those losses to San Antonio and Golden State, Boston may have discovered something about itself. If these Celtics can trade haymakers with Aldridge/Duncan/Ginobili and Curry/Green/Iguodala in crunch time, then there's not many teams in the league that will leave Boston questioning itself.
