Notebook: Celtics motivated by Red Sox series win, Baynes set to return vs. Pistons

The Celtics returned to practice with momentum on Monday after their best performance of the season on Saturday night in Detroit, but the buzz around the facility still remained with another Boston squad in the wake of their World Series win.

Brad Stevens has been a regular at Fenway Park with his son throughout his tenure in Boston and raved about the team dynamic that led the Sox to the title.

"I've talked multiple times about how team-oriented they were," he said. "We pointed to Brock Holt's performance in the New York series, and then you look at Jackie Bradley Jr., who was the ALCS MVP, doesn't play until the last half of the game last night. Then Mookie Betts struggled all the way through, and yet clearly was an unbelievable leader, smiled and people got great motivation from his presence. Just go down the line with all those guys. The pitchers. It was incredible. I'm really thankful that in my time here I've been able to watch a couple of championships with my 12-year-old son. That's hard to beat."

Stevens spent some time in Spring Training with the Sox before the year and spoke with the team at the behest of Alex Cora. He's kept in touch with the Sox manager over the course of the year and was impressed by how he pushed the right buttons with this group.

"You could tell he had a special way about him," Stevens said. "It takes a lot for everyone to sacrifice a little bit more for the team, but that environment was something special."

Gordon Hayward may not be a big baseball fan but the Red Sox featured prominently in his recruitment to Boston as he was given a tour of Fenway (along with a pitch video) on the center field scoreboard last summer, which helped to land the swingman. After seeing the success across town, Hayward sees it as a reminder of what's expected in the region.

"Big congratulations to those guys, they had a great year," Gordon Hayward said. "It's only right they won the whole thing. They call it Title Town for a reason, so now we have to do our job."

"They set the standards about what's expected here in Boston and what we're trying to accomplish," Aron Baynes added. "It's a great thing for the city and a great thing for the players to be able to go out here and enjoy it for the next couple of days. It's going to be fun for the city, and hopefully we can feed a bit off that excitement as well."

Baynes set to return Tuesday night

After a three-game absence, Aron Baynes will return to the floor at '100 percent' after the team cautiously held him out over the weekend against Detroit in the wake of a hamstring strain.

"It’s about waiting for them to give me full clearance. I’m a bull out of the gates," Baynes said of the extra caution. "I don’t care. As soon as they say it’s fine, I have confidence in my body, I know what I feel. And I haven’t felt it in the last few days. So I have the utmost confidence in my hammy.”

Baynes will be lined up for bigger minutes upon his return following an injury to Daniel Theis on Saturday night that will keep the German big man sidelined for weeks.