The Boston Celtics are facing relative adversity for the first time since losing the opening two games this season. They rebounded by pulling off the best winning streak in the league — 16 straight — but now find themselves out of first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time in a very long while.
Upon his return, Kyrie Irving and the Celtics have lost the last two, now hurdled by the steady Toronto Raptors who have taken a one-game advantage after winning six games in a row and eight of their last 10.
Irving noted this is the time to see how his team will respond to this adversity.
“I’m just interested to see how we respond,” Irving said, according to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald.
The team is largely comprised of young assets and has overachieved, given the massive letdown of having one of their core stars in Gordon Hayward lost to injury for the remaining of the season — getting only five minutes of action from him after a four-year, $128 million deal doled out in the summer.
“It’s vital. Every day is an opportunity to progress,” Irving said. “Sometimes you’re going to get hit back. Like I said, I’m just interested to see how we respond. It takes first, individually, going back and doing the things we need to do to learn, and then as a group we all come back together. So we’re still consistently learning and evolving and going against great teams like this that hopefully we’ll see down the line.”
The Celtics were hit hardest with a loss against Toronto last week, one that cost them the differential and has seen them lose three out of their last four games — making tonight's game against the L.A. Clippers that much more vital if they want to regain some lost footing.
Follow Us
Subscribe