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What two words best describe the Boston Celtics heading into the stretch run?

What two words best describe the Boston Celtics heading into the stretch run?

Yahoo21-02-2025
What two words best describe the Boston Celtics heading into the stretch run? Bleacher Report NBA analyst Zach Buckley has a pair of words in mind for the Celtics at this late point of the league's 2024-25 regular season. And truth be told, the B/R expert might have a point given where Boston currently is in the Eastern Conference standings, despite much hand-wringing over a midseason six-week stretch of rough play that started around Thanksgiving.
"The Celtics aren't chasing regular-season glory," Buckley fairly reminds us, taking those concerns seriously for the moment, even if they are overblown, to put it mildly. "They're aiming to become the Association's first repeat champs since the Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors."
"There could be a bit of pacing in other words, and if there is, look out," he adds.
"Despite perhaps not always having the pedal floored, they're still boasting a .700-plus winning percentage and top-five efficiency ranks on offense (fourth) and defense (fifth)," writes Buckley. "This remains the team to beat, even if the standings don't necessarily reflect that."
The words the B/R expert has in mind for Boston? "On course" -- and they are.
Listen to the "Celtics Lab" podcast on:
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: What two words best describe the Celtics heading into the stretch run?
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