Unlike Troy Aikman in a certain beer commercial, the Boston Celtics aren’t too keen on dwelling on the past.
The Celtics were roughly 20 hours removed from an exhausting loss to the Golden State Warriors when they tipped off with the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Yet rather than suffer the letdown expected in a big-game hangover, Boston turned the page to grind out a 98-93 road win. The victory snapped Charlotte’s four-game winning streak, but it also produced a far more impressive stat: The Celtics now have won 10 consecutive road games at the tail end of back-to-backs, a streak that dates to last season’s All-Star break.
Boston is 4-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season and has beaten the likes of the Hornets, Houston Rockets and Miami Heat, all on the road, in such scenarios. The only exception was a two-point home loss to the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 11.
“It just says how tough we are, how mature we’re becoming, and it just shows a lot about our team,” Celtics guard Avery Bradley told CSN New England’s Kyle Draper in a postgame interview. “We take pride in back-to-backs, and we take pride in just playing hard every single night. I’m proud of our team.”
Bradley, who finished with a game-high 23 points, had good reason to be proud Saturday night. He helped the Celtics shake a rough first half by drilling three 3-pointers in the third quarter, resuscitating Boston after Friday night’s draining affair. The Celtics’ effort wasn’t exactly pretty, but it was enough to get the job done in adverse circumstances.
“I don’t think anything (Saturday) was about getting into a rhythm,” head coach Brad Stevens said in a postgame interview aired on CSN New England. “It was about finding a way. (Friday) night was an emotional loss, whether we want to act like it or not, and so to come back and play that way (Saturday) and get a win on the road against a really good team is a heck of a night.”
The Celtics will face plenty more challenges over the course of the season. But their excellent record on the second of back-to-backs proves the C’s have mastered the art of having a short memory.
“We enjoy the challenge,” Stevens added. “I think this group likes challenges, and that’s a good thing.”
Thumbnail photo via Sam Sharpe/USA TODAY Sports Images
