No excuses: Celtics are ready to tackle January gauntlet

The Celtics held their first practice in the new year on Thursday afternoon at the Auerbach Center and it could very well be their last official one before the All-Star Break. With a grueling stretch of 23 games looming over the next 42 days, including five over the next week alone, finding rest will be a top priority for the franchise whenever and wherever the team can get it.

“I think sleep is important,” Jaylen Brown said of the upcoming stretch. “Make sure you hydrate and drink a lot of water, things like that to keep your body – or to stay on top of your recovery. And getting a lift every now and then. I think sometimes when you’re tired it doesn’t make sense to go in there and lift, but sometimes after you get the blood going and get a good lift you feel better after being tired. So just trying to stay on top of a routine and schedule. Sleep is really important going into this month so I’m trying to make sure I get (enough).”

Brown is coming off a sinus infection himself that forced him to miss Tuesday’s win against the Hornets but he is on track to return for Friday’s matchup against the Hawks.

“I had, like, the worst headache I think I’ve ever had in my entire life,” Brown said of the illness. “But I’m feeling a lot better. I think the worst is behind us. I’m still a little bit congested but it’s manageable.”

The Celtics’ core may still be shorthanded tomorrow anyway with Kemba Walker dealing with flu-like symptoms that caused him to miss today’s practice.

“He's going to get re-checked by our doctors later in the day,” Brad Stevens said. “We will know more about his availability tonight or tomorrow morning.”

While the Celtics are tied for the second-most games out of any team in the East for January (16), the volume will be the toughest part of the schedule itself. Boston plays nine of the 16 games at the Garden and their opponents during the month will have a combined winning percentage of just .450. That should open the door for the C’s to pile up some wins if they can maintain some consistency in their play.

“I mean, I'm just focused on playing well,” Stevens said of the January slate. “I told these guys just now that I've been fortunate to be on a lot of really good teams and they didn't care when the games were scheduled, they showed up and competed. Sometimes, the bus breaks down, sometimes you get in late, sometimes you are on the second night of a back-to-back and you went to double overtime the night before, but you got a game to play. You play it to win it and prepare to win it. That's going to be the task and the challenge.

“There should be no excuses. We've got a lot in and we're not going to see anything that we haven't seen before at some time in the first 31 games. It's just a matter of adjusting on the fly and playing as well as we can.”

Brown echoed those sentiments when reflecting on the road ahead.

“The teams he’s coached that were really good—luckily I was on some of those teams, so I agree,” Brown said. “I think that no matter the opponent it’s about us. We’ve got to continue to get better. I know we had a good start to the season but we’ve still got a lot of room to improve. As a coach, it’s his job to make the best out of us, and I think the best is definitely yet to come. So salute to him for being able to put that pressure on us to push us to be great.”

There will be some challenging contests in particular with games against Milwaukee and Philadelphia coming on the road on the second half of a back-to-back, but the players will do their best to ensure they have enough left in the tank for those matchups.

“You try to emphasize rest and recovery for sure because every game matters,” Brown said. “So we want to be at our best going into this tougher stretch of the schedule. So if we stay on top of that I think we’ll be fine.”

Other practice notes

—Vincent Poirier was seen taking part in basketball activities for the first time since suffering a broken left pinky: “He had a positive visit to the doctor. It looks like he is on pace or ahead of pace for a return to play, but not anytime in the near future.”
—Rob Williams is set to get another scan on his hip edema later this week. The team should have an update on his status over the weekend.
—Jaylen Brown had a funny story about finding out about his Player of the Week honor in the hospital: “I had an IV and I had gone right to sleep 'cause they put some antibiotics in the IV for the chronic sinus infection that I had. I woke up two or three, four hours later to a bunch of congrats texts and I'm like, 'Congrats? I'm in the hospital.' It turns out I won player of the week, so that was a tremendous blessing, for sure. Definitely didn't think that's where I would receive the news, but sometimes life works out like that. That's my first time getting any recognition from the league. So that was pretty cool for me.”
—Brad Stevens on the legacy of David Stern: “Very sad, as everybody else would say. Heartfelt condolences to his family. I only had a chance to meet him briefly. He was outgoing as I was coming in, right before Adam took the commissioner’s role, and one coaches meeting. Obviously had an amazing impact on the league, the global impact of basketball. Sad stuff.”