Gordon Hayward’s season ending injury five minutes into the Boston Celtics’ opener couldn’t have been a more crushing blow for a team with championship aspirations. But the Celtics haven’t let the Hayward situation derail their start. They’ve rebounded like the contender they thought they were and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings heading into tonight’s action.
The Celtics, at 7-2 heading into a tilt against the Magic in Orlando this evening, are soaring. Instead of sticking their chests out, though, Celtics coach Brad Stevens is making sure his team stays grounded in the midst of their fantastic start. It might impress elsewhere, but not in Boston and certainly not with Stevens, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald details:
Presented with the relevant facts — seven straight victories and a 7-2 record — Brad Stevens didn’t hesitate to offer his assessment.
“Who cares? We have 73 games to go,” said the coach. “That’s my precise answer.”
Which is not to say Stevens is ignoring the rather interesting detail that the Celts are accomplishing all this while getting significant minutes out of three rookies and a second-year player, Plus, with Gordon Hayward sitting at home, staring at his fractured left ankle and yelling, “Heal, dammit.”
It may be fair to say this group is ahead of schedule.
“I think we’re probably a little bit on some ways,” said Stevens, “but, you know, in other ways, I just know how much room we have to improve. We have a lot of room to improve, and we’ve got to get better if we want to ultimately be where we want to be.”
