The Boston Celtics were in a bit of a funk after the All-Star break, going just 1-6 over their first seven games after a week off.
Boston won its matchup against the Washington Wizards before losing its next game against the Houston Rockets in advance of a West Coast road trip that began with the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
But something clicked for the Celtics, as they manhandled Golden State on Tuesday night, coming away with a 128-95 victory at Oracle Arena. Semi Ojeleye tore into his teammates and Brad Stevens had a long conversation with Kyrie Irving after losing to the Rockets — both of which could have contributed to Tuesday’s blowout win.
But assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry thinks he knows why the Green was so “locked in” against one of the NBA’s best teams and said it all began with the team watching film from the loss to Houston.
“Guys are talking through it and commenting and kind of pointing different things out,” Shrewsberry said, via The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “That’s when we’re really locked in. Somebody may have a question, but somebody else answers it. When it’s their group and they’re making the reads and suggestions and coming up with the plan, that’s when you can tell these dudes are locked in and they’re ready.
“And guys were speaking up,” Shrewsberry added. “They’re seeing different things or talking about what they see and how they can help the next guy. ‘Here’s what I see, and if you do this, I’m looking at this this way.’ They’re communicating through each other the things they see on the court, and I think it translates when they can put it together like that.”
With just 16 games remaining in the regular season, they’ll certainly need to be as “locked in” as possible if they want to have a long postseason run.
