The Boston Celtics railed off a season-high eight straight wins before a recent road loss to the Detroit Pistons, yet at the early stages of the season, they were forced to survive a challenging stretch. Mired in a 10-10 start and clawing their way into the Eastern Conference playoff picture, the Celtics needed resilience, and that had to start with one of the team's veterans, namely center Al Horford.
“I think, as a team, you never want anything that goes on in the locker room to get outside the locker room, so I was happy,” said Horford, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. “But we weren’t panicking. We weren’t overreacting. There was a sense of urgency. But I’m just glad that there was no silliness. Everybody stayed composed, and we just understood that we needed to keep working together.”
The Celtics have made plenty of changes, from trying Gordon Hayward as a starter, to venturing into bringing him off the bench — ultimately opting to do the same with the struggling Jaylen Brown, allowing Marcus Smart to become the tone-setter as the team's starting shooting guard.
“For us, it wasn’t so much about who’s starting and who’s not,” said Horford, who’s missed the past five games because of left knee tendinitis. “I think it’s understanding that sometimes when injuries happen, they can be beneficial for the guy that’s out, because they can see the game more clearly. They’re not in the picture, so they can identify certain things that they can do better and things like that.”
Role players like Marcus Morris and Daniel Theis have had a profound impact on Boston righting the ship, now sitting at 18-11 and climbing up the standings with leaders like the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks starting to see the struggles that come with a long regular season.
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