The Boston Celtics faced high expectations this preseason, but they have struggled to live up to that hype a quarter of the way through their 2016-17 campaign.
Several players are putting together terrific individual numbers—such as Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley—but the team overall has been saddled by uneven stretches for the first two months of the year. The periodic struggles have been, for the most part, due to injuries to key contributors (Thomas, Al Horford, Jae Crowder).
"We had a lot of tough challenges, especially at the start of the season, ahead of us," head coach Brad Stevens said last week. "There are things you can't predict going into a new year with regard to availability, but I said at the beginning of the year we're as close to second or third as we are to 10th. We still are."
The tide may be turning after a comeback win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. It was the third straight victory for Boston amid signs it is beginning to find a rhythm with the opening-night starting five fully healthy. The Celtics are 10-3 in games when that core has been intact, although many of those wins have come against ...
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Article written by Brian Robb
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December 22nd, 2016 by Brian Robb Leave a reply »
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