A new chapter begins for these suddenly unrecognizable Celtics after blowout win over Warriors

OAKLAND -- Rock bottom for this team has popped up at about seven different junctures during the Celtics' season. Just when it looked like things can't get any worse for this group, they do a week later, which helped to create a toxic environment that impacted this team in some form at the mere sight of any turmoil.

After finding new embarrassing and creative ways to lose, the Celtics may have finally found their floor after yet another pathetic home loss to the Rockets on Sunday afternoon. This group was fully healthy for that contest and was desperate for a win on national television and it simply didn't matter. They couldn't defend, they looked disconnected on both ends of the floor and just looked to be playing at a different level than a team that had the same record for them. It was a sobering slap in the face for a team that had dropped five of its last six games since the All-Star Break, leaving little doubt about what kind of team they were and where they were headed.

Brad Stevens talked all the time about the desire to get five or six Celtics playing well together and, for most of the year, this group has been lucky to get more than three or four playing cohesively on any given night. However, as they faced what was supposed to be their toughest challenge of the year, a visit to Oracle Arena against the defending champions, they finally pushed their way out of the corner, showing the fight and purpose that's been missing for the better part of 64 games this year in a 128-95 demolition at Oracle Arena.

"I did think we played with real purpose on both ends of the court," Brad Stevens said. "The way that we played is the way that we need to play. Defensively, we were really connected, we were covering for one another, we were helping off the right guys and tight to the right guys. Offensively, I thought we were really well organized by our point guards and everybody contributed.”

Essentially, what Stevens has been working towards for the past six months came to fruition on at least one night against a shorthanded Warriors team that desperately missed guards Klay Thompson (knee) and Shaun Livingston (neck) due to injury. Golden State's defense has been underwhelming all year (17th in NBA) and the C's took advantage of that early and often on Tuesday night, attacking DeMarcus Cousins and other weaknesses on the floor with smarts and purpose. The results were sensational. A season-high 38 assists as a team on 51 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range. Gordon Hayward (30 points) led the charge with the best performance of his season while five different players scored in double figures.

Finding a Celtic that didn't contribute in some form was hard to do since it just didn't happen. The visitors jumped on the Warriors from the opening tip with an 11-0 run and get their foot on the gas for the full 48, a rarity for this team. It was the first wire-to-wire win for a visiting team at Oracle Arena in nearly 13 years. It was the worst home loss for Golden State all season and it was a perfectly timed reminder of what this Celtics team was capable of.

“I just thought we played with a purpose all the way through," Stevens said. "We were very business-like the whole night even at halftime and just now after the game. We know that we haven’t played like that enough but it is encouraging as a reminder that we can.”

"They had 38 assists and 11 turnovers – that’s about as good as it gets," Steve Kerr added. "We’ve known how talented this team is and they have a lot to play for. The season hasn’t gone as well as they have hoped, but there is plenty of season left and plenty of time to turn it around. That was a good step for them. They looked great out there tonight.”

So what exactly was the turning point for this group as they finally played to their potential? It appears the good vibes Stevens talked about emerging in the past two days came to the surface as reality hit for this group amid the reality that this season was on the verge of slipping away.

"That long plane ride helped us out —I’ll just say that," Kyrie Irving admitted after posting 19 points and 11 assists. "We needed it. It was just we were going to get to a point where we were just going to get tired of fighting each other, fighting the outside world. And it doesn’t even really matter. So we just wanted to come out here and just play basketball. This is our sanctuary. And we have to do everything to protect it. We can’t let anybody infiltrate it.”

"Probably just a couple of butt kickings," Stevens said of the C's response. "You have a choice - you either come in and let your circumstances control your attitude or let your attitude control your circumstances. We were pretty good the last couple of days."

The win improves the Celtics' record against above .500 teams to 3-10 on the road this year, so while this is just one victory, it shouldn't be undersold just how needed it was from a confidence standpoint for this group, a reminder of what they are capable of.

“It was very important for us," Irving explained. "We wanted to start off this road trip very well. Since the All-Star break – even before then – we haven’t been playing our best brand of basketball. So we want to come out and just put emphasis on both ends of the court, but especially defensively.

"Playing here is always tough so we wanted to come out and just make a statement for ourselves. Obviously, the Warriors were missing Klay. That’s a big, big, huge piece. I was watching CP talk the other night about coming here and getting a win; in the regular season it’s always great to have great matchups against great teams. But you hope that everybody can be healthy. And if not then you want to take advantage of the offensive and defensive schemes where you can. And I think we did a great job of that tonight. There was just a sense of togetherness and we were having some fun out there.”

Fittingly, this group won't have much time to soak in the accolades from the win. Instead, they will be back in action less than 24 hours later in Sacramento on Wednesday night. Encouragingly, the focus in Boston's locker room after the blowout was just as much on that contest as the win Tuesday night, a tribute to the unpredictability of this team through 65 games. All of the good they did on Tuesday night will go away if they don't find a way to sustain the effort and that's finally starting to click for this group.

"It’s the perfect way to respond, the perfect way to respond. Have to keep it up, back-to-back," Jaylen Brown (18 points off the bench) said. "Gotta come out with the same energy. The energy we play with against the best teams in the league is great. The energy we play with against teams that aren’t as highly regarded is what we have to (get better at)."

“Hopefully we choose to play this way tomorrow," Hayward added. "We got to build off this one, another tough one tomorrow. It might be tougher just given the circumstances, they are a good team and are going to play really hard. It’s going to be a good game so hopefully, we choose to play this way.”

The Celtics have played for themselves as individuals for most of the year and it's produced a middle of the road playoff team in the East to this point. Cohesiveness is their only chance now of achieving their true goal and for the first time all year, they played connected on both ends, answering runs with counter punches, closing out quarters strong and showing fight for each other. The shots were due to go in for one night, but the purpose seen from this group went beyond that. There's no guarantee it keeps up, but the fact that it remains in place should them compelling for the next two months as they try to maintain this best version of themselves. The fact that it still exists in some form is a very big development.

"We step in this locker room, nothing else really should matter," Irving said. "It’s a hard thing to come to grips with, because it comes with a lot of sacrifice, we’re away from our families, we can make every excuse in the books, but here we have a mission that we want to accomplish, and we can’t let anyone get in the way of that, even ourselves. So just as selfless as we can be every single night.

"Obviously, we’re not going to make every shot like we did tonight. I told these guys, we’re going to have to battle through some tough road games as we continue to go along and we got to be able to stay the course and stay together, and still have a defensive identity, and we’ll be fine every single game if we do that and we stay connected."