By Jaleel Lord ‘20
Staff Writer
Six minutes into opening night some thought the Boston Celtics season was over. Six minutes into the season, star small forward Gordon Hayward suffered a potentially season ending injury on an attempted alley-oop pass from Kyrie Irving. The Celtics went on to slightly lose that game in heartbreaking fashion to the Cavaliers and no one could have foreseen what has happened since.
After a second loss after leading throughout the game, the Celtics fell to 0-2 and seemed to be heading towards the lottery. Ever since that second loss, the Celtics have had a night and day difference and have just won their 13th straight win on Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Celtics win against the Nets marked the return of star point guard, Kyrie Irving, who suffered a facial fracture against the the Charlotte Hornets and has missed the last two games. Kylie missed the rest of the game against the Hornets and the matchup with the Raptors and still somehow the Celtics were about to come out on top.
The Celtics were able to grind out a tough win against the Toronto Raptors on November 12th, the Boston Celtics extended their win streak to 12 wins. Al Horford, back in Boston’s starting lineup Sunday after missing the previous two games due to a concussion, scored a team-high 21 points on an efficient 8-of-9 shooting. “It definitely looks like a young Al Horford — All-Star Al Horford, to be honest,” said forward Jaylen Brown. “He’s playing really well at a high level. If he keeps it up, we’re gonna be really tough.”
“I don’t know if young Al Horford played like this, to be honest,” said Horford. “It’s been years of working on my game and trying to play this new way. This is the style the NBA is shifting towards, and it’s taken me a couple years to get comfortable and play like this, so the young Al Horford can shoot 3s.” In the 2008-09 season the Celtics won 12 straight games, when, prior to a Kevin Garnett knee injury, they were the dominant team in the NBA. Even though this team does not have the same level of all-star content as the defending 2007-08 NBA champions, they have a fighting chance of competing for this year’s title.
The Celtics started off slow but have rebounded to win their 13th straight with a date with the Warriors on Thursday looking for their 14th. Once Hayward broke his ankle people immediately started doubting this team but this team has embraced the “next man up” mentality and are primed for a successful.
