I feel like I need to keep repeating this in all of these threads.
Boston has played a very difficult schedule with players in and out of the lineup. The C's will go on a tear starting in mid-January to mid-March (18-7 should be the worst case if they are healthy) and after that 8-5 should be the worst case, so even looking at the worst case (again if they are mostly healthy), when Boston ends the year something like 26-12 in the worst case, I'd like to see all of those posting now continue making the same type of posts.
I haven't looked at the schedule, but winning roughly 70% of our games doesn't seem like a worst case, even if we're healthy. In fact, it sounds pretty ambitious. This team has shown the ability to lose to some bad teams, even when fairly healthy (which no team seems to be, least of all ours).
Starting with the January 17th game, the schedule is pretty darn easy. I mean the 7 games that start there are NO, CHA, POR at home, then at WAS, SAC at home, then at ATL and NO. Then it is MIA and CHA at home, followed by games at DET, at ORL, and at BKN, two more at home with DEN, ATL, at PHI, and DET at home. Boston, if healthy, should be 13-3 in that stretch. The Feb. 24th game is at BKN, but then at DET, at IND, and then 3 home games ATL, MEM, BKN, at CHA with DET and DAL at home, so a bit tougher but should be no worse than 5-4, then a 4 game road trip at GS, SAC, DEN, OKC so let's call it 1-3 (though 2-2 is more likely) then 5 of the next 6 at home UTA, MIN, at TOR, MIA, IND, WAS (4-2 to be safe, though 5-1 or 6-0 isn't out of question) and ending with a 3 game road trip at CHI, MIL, MEM (tough final 3, but I expect a win so 1-2). So that gets you to 26-12 with a good shot at being better. This obviously requires very good health, especially from Tatum and Brown though. If Boston continues to have the roster cohesion problems, then it isn't going to perform very well.
There are also 10 games before that, which if Boston was healthy they'd probably be 7-3 or 6-4 in, but with them lacking health it is far more likely that they are something 4-6.