BOSTON — The new year is almost here, and it's been an incredible 365 days for the Boston Celtics. The C's captured an NBA title in June and carried their winning ways into the 2024-25 regular season. In fact, Boston won so much that dropping three of its last four games felt like a brutal slump to some fans. The Celtics reminded their supporters of their consistency on the court by snapping out of that cold streak and walloping the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, 142-105.

This win didn't feel out of the ordinary, which shows just how reliable the Green Team has been lately. After putting up a season-high 142 points against Indiana, Boston clinched an impressive feat. It didn't lose three games in a row in 2024.

The Celtics haven't dropped three consecutive contests since the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals nearly 20 months ago. The last time a reigning champion avoided losing three consecutive games in a season before the Celtics was almost a decade ago, as the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors went on a dominant run that continued into the 2015-16 regular season.

Boston was on the verge of faltering in three straight games until it crushed Indiana in its most lopsided victory of the 2024-25 campaign. The C's ability to respond after losses has been remarkable, but it doesn't surprise head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“The guys do a great job focusing on the process,” he stated in his postgame press conference. “They don't get distracted by what's not most important. Win or lose, we have an understanding of where we're at, where we want to get to, what we have to work on, and where we can get better, and they stick to that whether we win or lose. They do a good job of not getting distracted by things that don't impact winning.”

Near three-game losing streaks aside, Boston only suffered back-to-back losses four times in 2024. Celtics star Jaylen Brown stated that eagerness to bounce back is occasionally on behalf of the TD Garden faithful, especially after losing at home on Christmas Day to the Philadelphia 76ers.

“Playing on Christmas Day is obviously a privilege, and we kind of let our fans down in our own court, and we appreciate everybody for taking the time out of your day to watch us,” Brown said. “And we didn't put our best foot forward. So I think we wanted to come out and respond.”

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Brown arguably had the best in-game response on Friday, notching a season-high 44 points in 37 minutes of play. And although the reigning NBA Finals MVP was committed to getting back in the win column, he wasn't panicking when the Celtics were losing more than usual.

“I wasn't concerned at all. I think that's just the grind of the season. It's a new year, you can’t expect everything to just go perfect,” Brown revealed. “Adversity, you need it to know what you are made of. So those moments, you don't get concerned. You look to your guys, look to your group and use it as an opportunity to get better. It's an opportunity to see what we're made of.”

Through 31 games, the Celtics are 23-8 and in second place in the Eastern Conference. In addition, they're 7-1 following a defeat, with six of those seven wins coming by at least 15 points. Mazzulla is certainly proud of his guys' dedication to not letting losses stack, yet he also applauds how they stay even-keeled when they're consistently winning as well.

“Can't be distracted by the result,” he stressed. “You have to stick to the process of what you're doing well, what you're not doing well, where you can get better. And our guys do a great job of that.”

Mazzulla's men will face the Pacers yet again on Sunday afternoon. Indiana will look to recover from its Friday night embarrassment while Boston will try to grab another win over its Eastern Conference foe ahead of 2025.