Even though the competition is very tough, the Boston Celtics are starting to pull away in the Eastern Conference and the gap between them and the second seed is only growing.
After Wednesday night’s defeat of the New Orleans Pelicans, the Celtics are now 30-12.
They have also won their last 4 games too.
There was a time when people wondered if the Celtics would be able to have a successful season after a very rough, dramatic summer.
But Boston star Jaylen Brown said that his team has been laser-focused on one thing and one thing only for months: returning to and winning the Finals.
Jaylen Brown: "We came into this season with an understanding that we’re trying to get back to where we were last year. We didn't want to hear about… We didn't want to talk about any of that other stuff. The only thing we were focused on is that we lost in the Finals." pic.twitter.com/Tnd8MS5HOz
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) January 12, 2023
Following the game on Wednesday, Brown opened up about the desire from him and his teammates:
“We came into this season with an understanding that we’re trying to get back to where we were last year. We didn’t want to hear about… We didn’t want to talk about any of that other stuff. The only thing we were focused on is that we lost in the Finals.”
Brown is absolutely correct – it’s clear that his team really has been dead set on winning it all.
The Celtics were in a really bad way at this point last season: they had a record that was under .500 and few people thought they’d make it to the Finals.
But they turned things around and had a stellar second half of the season and ended up facing off against the Golden State Warriors in the championship.
Through trades, injuries, and the very public firing of their head coach, the summer was filled with drama for the Celtics and there were a few analysts who thought they’d miss a step when 2022-23 started.
They were wrong and the Celtics have never seemed so determined.
