Jaylen Brown talks about not needing to score “30 points a game” because this team has so many scorers already.
There's plenty to feel good about the Boston Celtics this holiday season.
The Celtics embark on their West Coast swing as the co-best team in the NBA, tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves at 20-5. (Don't say we didn't warn you about the Wolves...) They just swept a five-game homestand for the first time since 2016 and are a perfect 14-0 at home, with a 21-game home winning streak dating to last season that's tied for the third-longest in team history.
Now what if we told you Boston accomplished all that while facing one of the league's toughest schedules?
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Below are a few nuggets about the Celtics' 2023-24 schedule to date and their upcoming slate that provide impressive context to their early-season success and could bode well for that success continuing going forward:
Besting the Beasts of the East
As we mentioned above -- the Celtics have had one of the NBA's toughest schedules to date. Boston leads the league in Basketball Reference's Simple Rating System, which factors in average point differential and strength of opponents to date. Power Rankings Guru ranks the Celtics' first 25 games as the fifth-toughest in the NBA, with 18 of those 25 contests coming against teams above .500.
That includes essentially every Eastern Conference competitor: Boston has played 23 of its first 25 games against East opponents, including three matchups each against the rival Philadelphia 76ers (2-1 head-to-head record), New York Knicks (3-0) and Orlando Magic (2-1), two each against the Cleveland Cavaliers (2-0) and Indiana Pacers (1-1) and one each against the Milwaukee Bucks (1-0) and Miami Heat (1-0).
The Celtics have passed this early test with flying colors: They're 14-4 against teams above .500 -- tops in the NBA -- and are 19-4 against the East, with one of those losses coming in overtime (against the Charlotte Hornets).
Greener pastures
It might seem unfair, but the NBA's current top team has the league's easiest record going forward.
The combined winning percentage of Boston's remaining opponents is just .469, which is the lowest in the NBA, per Tankathon.
The Celtics still have three games each to play against the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons (who have six wins combined to date) and two each against the lottery-bound San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers and Hornets. After returning from their four-game West Coast trip, the C's will play four of their next five games against teams with losing records.
And unlike Celtics teams of seasons past, they've mostly taken care of business against subpar teams: Boston is 6-1 against teams below .500, with that Charlotte loss in overtime as the only blemish.
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Road warriors?
The Celtics may have have a cushy overall schedule, but they'll earn their frequent flyer miles over the next month.
Thirteen of Boston's next 20 games are on the road, beginning with a Bay Area back-to-back against the Golden State Warriors (Tuesday night) and the Sacramento Kings (Wednesday night). Nine of those 13 road games will be played in a different time zone, and one of their Eastern Time Zone contests is north of the border in Toronto.
That upcoming slate will put the Celtics' one relative "weakness" to the test: They're 6-5 away from TD Garden this season and have dropped three straight on the road.
The C's have met essentially every challenge they've faced early this season, however, so the next few weeks are a golden opportunity for Joe Mazzulla's club to further prove it belongs at the top of the league.
