The 82-game NBA regular season is a marathon. There are naturally inherent ebbs and flows. Notably, January frequently stands out as one of those periods marked by occasional lulls.
“January and February are times where teams have a lull,” Wyc Grousbeck told The Greg Hill Show on Wednesday. “There are lots of distractions of the trading deadline around the league coming up in February, then there is All-Star. This period right now is a period you can easily lose your focus.”
The Celtics face a grueling schedule in January. Based on cumulative opponent winning percentage, Boston has the third-toughest schedule – with opponents posting a combined .554 winning percentage. The Celtics will also play four back-to-backs.
Boston will play a stretch of five games in seven nights, beginning Friday against a Utah Jazz team that has won six of their last seven and is fourth in both offensive and net rating over that stretch.
“Not looking ahead to January and looking at the schedule,” Al Horford said Thursday when discussing how the team can avoid one of those January lulls. “Yeah, we have looked at it, but I’m not going to dwell and spend time on that part of it. The biggest thing for us is, and we’ve had this approach, and it’s been good, and we’re going to be tested on it — Continuing to do the game-to-game.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla consistently emphasizes the importance of cultivating the right mindset, whether it's during practices, games, or shootarounds – a commitment to winning every single day. A mentality that will be tested in the coming weeks.
“The first thing is acknowledge it,” Mazzulla said. “We have the calendar up. We know exactly what the schedule is like. We know it’s going to be hard. We’re playing a lot of good teams. It’s going to be a hard month.”
The schedule has presented the Celtics with different challenges already – Notably, a demanding five-game homestand in mid-December, pitting them against three formidable playoff contenders from the Eastern Conference – all of which had bested Boston in the season series the previous year. Boston swept all five games over that stretch.
Additionally, the team displayed their growth and resilience during a West Coast trip, rallying from an initial loss to Golden State to secure a 3-1 record. Impressively, they outscored their opponents 342-269, boasting a remarkable +73 point differential.
Undoubtedly, the Celtics have aced every test thrown their way in terms of the schedule, leading to their NBA-best 26-7 record. However, January provides a new test.
“The biggest thing is we just have to be tough-minded,” Mazzulla said when discussing the stretch ahead. “Toughness is physical and mental, and that’s the most important thing.”
While winning is always the main priority, Mazzulla understands that given all the travel and quick turnarounds, health also needs to be front of mind.
“You try to map it out a little bit, but I think it’s a game-by-game,” the bench boss said. “At the end of the day, it’s about keeping our guys healthy and winning basketball games.”
January will be a true test for the Celtics from a physical and mental standpoint – providing the new-look Celtics another golden opportunity to prove that things really are “Different here.”
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