The Celtics have equaled their longest winning streak from last season. They put together 10 straight wins from Feb. 24-March 12. A victory over the Trail Blazers would give Boston its first 11-game winning streak since they put together 13 victories in a row from Dec. 28, 1985-Feb. 5, 1986.
The 2007-08 Boston Celtics were mentally tough. Bob Ryan opined that, unlike the 1985-86 Celtics, last year's version never took a night off. I expressed my disagreement on that point. But his overstatement does touch on something important.
I've said many times this fall that I didn't expect the Celtics to come out of the gates like they did last year. It's just too difficult to play at a world-class level for that many games over two seasons. Moreover, we have a precedent of one team trying to administer beatdowns for 164 straight games, and, while they did win back-to-back titles, most observers agree that they ran out of gas along the way and crawled to the finish line.
Now that KG and company have proven me wrong, the next question is how long will they play this well?
I don't know the answer. But I will confess that I derive deep, personal enjoyment every time this team establishes another link with the great teams of the 1980s.
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