The Celtics had a fairly easy schedule in the beginning of the season and now it is about to get much harder in February and March as they face the Spurs, Suns, and Hornets all twice over that span. In February, they will play 8 of 13 on the road. Before the All Star break, It isn't too rough as the Celtics face Cleveland, Clippers, Minny, San Antonio, Indy and New York. Of those, only 2 teams have winning records - Cleveland and San Antonio. The Celtics are 1-1 against the Cavs although the Cavs were without LeBron for their second matchup.
Right after the All Star break, the Celtics go on a 5 game in 7 nights road tripwhere they will face Denver, Golden State, Phoenix, Portland and the Clippers. Of those 5 teams, all but the Clippers are over .500. That will be a brutal trip and will go a long way to prove whether the Celtics can hang with the best of the West. If they can win at least 3 of those 5 games it will be considered a successful trip. After the trip, the final two games of the month are against Cleveland and Charlotte.
In March, the Celtics play 7-16 on the road, not quite as bad as February. Of those 16 games, 8 are against teams with records over .500. The Celtics face the Hawks, Pistons, Bulls, Grizzlies, Sixers, Sonics and Jazz before going on another tough road trip. On the trip, the Celtics will play 5 games in 8 nights. Four of the teams on the trip have winning records including the Spurs, Rockets, Mavericks, and Hornets. The fourth team, the Bucks, are 18-29 and lead off the trip.
After the trip, the Celtics come home to a 4 game home stand where they face Philly, Phoenix, New Orleans and Miami. The Celtics have had a chance to get out to a very strong start and grow as a team with a favorable early schedule. With the injuries in January, the bench had proved that it is ready to contribute and if the Celtics can stay healthy, I think they have a good chance of doing well through the upcoming tough schedule.
After a tough February and March, they have a fairly easy April leading to the playoffs. So far, the Celtics have met the challenges and came out on top. I have every confidence that the Celtics will do very well against all that the West has to throw at them during the next two months and finally quiet the critics who continually say that they haven't done anything yet. With KG coming back rested and loaded for bear, the Celtics could very well tame the West once and for all.
[Discuss this topic on the Celtics Green Forums!]
|
