The February schedule

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    Now that the Celts have closed within 2.5 games of the playoffs,
things look a little more hopeful given the brutal schedule now dead
ahead. Boston (18-26) is currently a tenth seed behind Orlando (19-23).
20-wins gets you into the playoffs if it started today, which shows
we've made quite a spirited comeback just over the past three weeks.

    Now over the next five games Boston will play at 8th seed Indiana,
on the road at payback-minded Detroit, then home with 7th seed
Cleveland, away at 6th seed Toronto and finally at home against 3rd seed
Milwauikee. The Cleveland-Toronto sequence is a home-road back-to-back.
These games are winnable, but oddsmakers will probably have us losing
all five games.

    Ideally, the Celtics need to strengthen their footing in the Eastern
playoff mix over this 5-game sequence, because the real test of
character comes immediately after....this year we have a particularly
toughWest Coast and Texas roadtrip (7 games in 10 days).

    Of the next 14 games taking us out of a brutal February into March,
eleven games are on the road. Only two of these 14 opponents (Detroit
and Vancouver, both on the road) have sub-.500 records.

    Out best hope is that they play tough over the next five conference
games. Boston is in many ways a new team (6-3 since the Portland loss)
whose defense has consistently kept us in games.

Go Celts!

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