In the basketball world, this time of year is often known as March Madness.
But you won’t find too many Boston Celtics players upset after closing out the month of March with a 115-104 win at Charlotte on Monday.
The victory did more than just strengthen their hold on the eighth and final playoff spot.
But it also secured a winning record in the month of March (10-8) for Boston, something the Celtics have not done when playing 18 or more games in the same calendar month since December of 1984.
To put that in perspective, only two Celtics players (Gerald Wallace and Shavlik Randolph) were even alive back then.
Making their March success even more impressive was that it came at a time when Boston’s best scorer, Isaiah Thomas, would spend most of this month out with a lower back injury.
He’s back and so is the Celtics’ focus on making a strong, final push to end the regular season that they hope will be enough to get into the playoffs.
“Each game is obviously a big thing,” said Boston’s Evan Turner. “In order to try and make the playoffs or worry about that we have to take care of each game.”
Boston has been at its best this month when facing fellow contenders vying for one of the last remaining playoff spots. In March, Boston faced its toughest competition for the playoffs (Brooklyn, Indiana, Miami and Charlotte) a total of five times.
The Celtics came away with the win in all but one of those five games (a 93-86 home loss to Miami on March 25).
They will try to add to that string of success Wednesday when they host the Indiana Pacers.
And while it will certainly be played up to be a big game, truth be told is that every game at this point is a big game for the Celtics because of their potential playoff implications.
That’s why players aren’t getting too high or too down on themselves following games, win or lose.
“We realize we’re taking it one day at a time and the biggest thing is getting better and trying to build some consistency,” Turner said. “Whether we make it or not, we don’t want to limp in to the playoffs and not have a rhythm as opposed to coming in and being confident and having … being consistent and dangerous.”
