With soft schedule ahead, the time is now for Celtics to close gap in East

A tough schedule over the first two months of the regular season was not the main reason for the Celtics’ slow start, but it was a contributing factor. Boston dipped to the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference at one point in late November, thanks to a 10-10 record which featured underwhelming home losses to the likes of the Knicks and Magic along with a heavy slate of Western Conference road matchups (8).

An ugly loss to the Knicks on the night before Thanksgiving served as a defacto turning point over the past two weeks though, with Boston winning four of their last five contests (including three on the road) since Brad Stevens wondered aloud whether his team was ‘all that good’ after playing so inconsistently over the first month and the C's have responded to that challenge.

The timing can’t be much better for this group to turn a corner, particularly when it comes to making up ground with their schedule. Through 23 games, no Eastern Conference team has played more road games than the Celtics (14), and while a home-heavy slate won’t arrive until next month, the degree of difficulty on the schedule is taking a friendly turn in Boston’s favor over the next few weeks.

Here’s a look at what is coming up next for the C’s:

New York (8-17)
@ Chicago (5-20)
New Orleans (13-13)
@ Washington (11-14)
Atlanta (5-20)
@ Detroit (13-9)
Phoenix (4-20)

The Pistons are the only team on that slate that is above the .500 mark entering Thursday’s action, and the C’s have had their way with them in both matchups this season. Boston will be favored in every other game on this schedule, and they probably won’t find a more a lower degree of difficulty through the remainder of their 82-game slate.

Easy opponents didn’t mean much earlier in the year when Boston was a trick-or-treat team on a nightly basis. However, with a new starting lineup that’s gaining momentum, an improved Gordon Hayward and more defined roles across the roster developing in the past couple weeks, this group is positioned to roll off six wins in their next seven games and potentially put together a lengthy winning streak heading into road matchups with the Wizards and Pistons.

Based on the current standings, it’s a pretty crucial time for the Green to get to work making up for their early struggles. They stand just three games back of the Bucks for the second seed, but any dream of catching the Raptors (6.5 games back) will fade unless the C’s reestablish a pace for 55-plus wins.



The Bucks have shown signs of weakness after a 7-0 start with losses to the Knicks, Suns and Hornets in the last six games. With a couple of tilts looming for Milwaukee against the Warriors and Raptors this weekend, the Celtics could close that gap in the next couple weeks here if they take care of business themselves. Meanwhile, the Sixers have played more home games (14) than any team in the league and continue to have one of the worst road records (4-8) among any playoff team in the conference. With eight road contests looming in their next 13 games, the honeymoon period could be over for them after the Jimmy Butler trade.

Attempting to catch the Raptors is going to be a full-season affair for the C’s given the pace they are playing at, but the least the Celtics can do in the meantime is to reassert themselves as the frontrunner for the No. 2 seed in the East. There will be no better time to do that in the schedule than the next few weeks.

The team has to keep a long view in mind here, particularly when it comes to navigating the Eastern Conference playoff picture. The dropoff in quality of opponents for the potential 2-7 or 1-8 matchup in the East could be fairly drastic (Hornets, Magic, Wizards) instead of a more formidable opponent like the Pacers or Pistons that may be looming in the 3-6 spot.

While the Celtics will be heavily favored in any of those series, avoiding tough early round matchups will be crucial to sustaining the energy that will be required for taking down a combination of the Bucks, Sixers and Raptors in Rounds 2 and 3.

The playoffs may be five months away but the ramifications of a poor start may very well come back to haunt Boston, unless they can undo the early damage. They won’t get a better opportunity than the next two weeks on that front.