Decisive Stretch Coming Up..

[Phantom255x]

The Celtics next 11 of 15 games will be home games, and honestly, it looks like a stretch Boston could really take advantage of especially now that they are mostly healthy.

Memphis
@Cleveland
Miami
Utah
Philadelphia
New Orleans
@Toronto
Washington
@Atlanta
Charlotte
New York
Portland
@Washington
Houston
Orlando

Obviously, the C's could drop a few unexpected games, but also win a few unexpected games to tougher foes. Call me optimistic, but I think Boston has a good shot of going 11-4 in this stretch (or 10-5). As long as they play like they have recently, they should have a good 15-game stretch starting tonight. Coming out of it at an overall 29-17 OR 28-18 would be nice and likely distances us at the 3rd seed (maybe even gets us close to #2 seed depending on how Toronto does).

I only view the Cleveland, Toronto, and Houston games as likely losses, but it wouldn't surprise me if they beat one of these teams but also lost to a completely unexpected team (like 76ers OR Pelicans, etc...).

What do you guys think?

[Onslaught]

I don't find Memphis, Cleveland, Utah, Toronto, Atlanta, Charlotte, New York or Houston "easy" games.

[Phantom255x]

I don't find Memphis, Cleveland, Utah, Toronto, Atlanta, Charlotte, New York or Houston "easy" games.

Not at all, but I think the C's can find a way to win some of those games. Especially if they can stay healthy. I did say we could see some unexpected wins but also some unexpected losses along the way. Going 10-5 in this stretch still looks possible though.

[CelticGuardian]

I don't find Memphis, Cleveland, Utah, Toronto, Atlanta, Charlotte, New York or Houston "easy" games.

I think we end going 4-4 against these teams.

[Granath]

Taking this a step further, 15 of the Celtics next 20 are at home.

It's not an easy stretch by any imagination with games against Cleveland, Utah, Toronto, Charlotte, NY, Houston, Toronto (again) and the Clips - all teams with winning records. But it's not an incredibly difficult stretch either as more than half the teams have losing records and the only road games against teams with current winning records are against Toronto and Cleveland.

Furthermore, the Cs have only the 2nd night of back to backs against Miami, NO, Washington, Houston and Milwaukee. Only the Mil game is on the road. The Cs will be playing 20 games in 41 days in that span which means they'll stay active without being truly overburdened.

15-5 is not an unrealistic goal and anything short of 12-13 wins would be truly a disappointment. This is a fairly smooth portion of the Cs schedule and it's time to make hay while the sun shines. After this stretch the Cs have a very difficult road stretch with 14 out of 19 on the road and many against very good teams (@Utah, @Toronto, Cleveland, @LAC and @GS). That stretch could be much more of a struggle.

And if anyone is still reading, 9 of the Cs last 12 are at home and only 2 teams - Cleveland and NY - currently have winning records. So there's a good chance to make a late season surge as well.

[CelticPride2016]

I'll take a guess at that. I'll go with 2-2 for road games and 9-2 for home games. Sign me up for 11-4 and our record will become 29-17.

[jpotter33]

Here's my prediction over the next 20 of how things "should" go:

Memphis - w
@Cleveland - l
Miami  - w
Utah - w
Philadelphia - w
New Orleans - w
@Toronto - l
Washington - w
@Atlanta - w
Charlotte - w
New York - w
Portland - w
@Washington - w
Houston - w
Orlando - w
@ Milwaukee - l
Detroit - w
Toronto - w
Los Angeles Lakers - w
Los Angeles Clippers - l

Theoretically, I think we "should" go (or at least be favored in) 16-4 in the next 20, though of course there are some wins that we will lose, along with some losses we could win, too.

I think we could legitimately take the games at Cleveland, Toronto, Milwaukee (always struggle with their length), and against the Clippers. The Memphis, Utah,  Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, Portland, Houston, and Toronto games could also be tight games that we could lose, too.

I predict that we'll end up going 15-5 or 14-6 over the next 20. With how we've been on a roll lately, being fully healthy, and the fact that the majority of these games are at home with plenty of rest and little travel time, I think that kind of record is certainly doable. We should right there with Cleveland and Toronto after this stretch with a record of around 32- 19.

EDIT: And I'll go a step further and predict we win Thursday in Cleveland! 

[jbpats]

I think this stretch will define the Celtics season. It's clear we are a playoff team, we are just unsure of what kind of playoff team that is.. another one and done or a team that could possibly make some noise.
I feel that we will create some separation during this stretch, the team is really starting to gel. Instead of having a log jam from 3-9 or so in the East we'll be battling Toronto for the 2 seed or at the very least have some solid command of the three seed.

[mctyson]

They just need to hover around a .600 win pct and they will be fine.  Get to the trade deadline with that record.

[Rosco917]

You need to consider that in some of the games you're seeing as wins, the C's are very capable of coming up short in. 

[celticsclay]

Here's my prediction over the next 20 of how things "should" go:

Memphis - w
@Cleveland - l
Miami  - w
Utah - w
Philadelphia - w
New Orleans - w
@Toronto - l
Washington - w
@Atlanta - w
Charlotte - w
New York - w
Portland - w
@Washington - w
Houston - w
Orlando - w
@ Milwaukee - l
Detroit - w
Toronto - w
Los Angeles Lakers - w
Los Angeles Clippers - l

Theoretically, I think we "should" go (or at least be favored in) 16-4 in the next 20, though of course there are some wins that we will lose, along with some losses we could win, too.

I think we could legitimately take the games at Cleveland, Toronto, Milwaukee (always struggle with their length), and against the Clippers. The Memphis, Utah,  Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, Portland, Houston, and Toronto games could also be tight games that we could lose, too.

I predict that we'll end up going 15-5 or 14-6 over the next 20. With how we've been on a roll lately, being fully healthy, and the fact that the majority of these games are at home with plenty of rest and little travel time, I think that kind of record is certainly doable. We should right there with Cleveland and Toronto after this stretch with a record of around 32- 19.

EDIT: And I'll go a step further and predict we win Thursday in Cleveland! 

I really don't think there is any way we do that good over the next 20 games. I really hope I am wrong. I think 12-8 or 13-7 would be great. 16-4 seems like setting the bar incredibly high.

[hwangjini_1]

You need to consider that in some of the games you're seeing as wins, the C's are very capable of coming up short in.

which ones and why please?

[Clench123]

We'll win them all

[jpotter33]

Here's my prediction over the next 20 of how things "should" go:

Memphis - w
@Cleveland - l
Miami  - w
Utah - w
Philadelphia - w
New Orleans - w
@Toronto - l
Washington - w
@Atlanta - w
Charlotte - w
New York - w
Portland - w
@Washington - w
Houston - w
Orlando - w
@ Milwaukee - l
Detroit - w
Toronto - w
Los Angeles Lakers - w
Los Angeles Clippers - l

Theoretically, I think we "should" go (or at least be favored in) 16-4 in the next 20, though of course there are some wins that we will lose, along with some losses we could win, too.

I think we could legitimately take the games at Cleveland, Toronto, Milwaukee (always struggle with their length), and against the Clippers. The Memphis, Utah,  Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, Portland, Houston, and Toronto games could also be tight games that we could lose, too.

I predict that we'll end up going 15-5 or 14-6 over the next 20. With how we've been on a roll lately, being fully healthy, and the fact that the majority of these games are at home with plenty of rest and little travel time, I think that kind of record is certainly doable. We should right there with Cleveland and Toronto after this stretch with a record of around 32- 19.

EDIT: And I'll go a step further and predict we win Thursday in Cleveland! 

I really don't think there is any way we do that good over the next 20 games. I really hope I am wrong. I think 12-8 or 13-7 would be great. 16-4 seems like setting the bar incredibly high.

Yeah, that's why I said those are the games we should probably be favored in and SHOULD win. However, in reality teams have off nights, so a couple of those we'll lose, along with picking up one or two that we were favored to lose.

I think my prediction of 15-5 or 14-6 is reasonable without any significant injuries, especially given how well we're playing and the fact that they're mostly at home with plenty of down/rest time.

[Rosco917]

You need to consider that in some of the games you're seeing as wins, the C's are very capable of coming up short in.

which ones and why please?

Utah is a decent team, they have some good players there, I'm not saying we loose, but it's not a cake walk.

Atlanta, and Howard will be up for this game, it will not be a sure win.

NewYork was feeling pretty good about themselves until we beat them, the Knicks hate the C's, and they have talent. They owe us.

Houston, the beard can go off at anytime, again not a cake walk.

Just like the Celtics can surprise teams with better records, the opposite can also happen. We're not at the point where we can just start checking off sure wins, not yet at least.

On the flip side of the coin, we could surprise Toronto.