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C's Gave Something To Be Thankful For: 16 Straight

Marc D'Amico
Team Reporter and Analyst

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MIAMI – How fun was that?

The Boston Celtics just went more than a month without losing a game before falling to the Heat 104-98 Wednesday night in Miami.

This Thanksgiving, you have something to be thankful about from a basketball perspective.

Certainly, we all wish that the streak would have continued through Thanksgiving, but it didn’t. That’s the negative.

The positive?

THE TEAM JUST WON 16 STRAIGHT GAMES!

Think about what we were all just able to enjoy. That was the fourth-longest win streak in the history of the most storied franchise in the sport of basketball. Read that again.

Seventeen Celtics teams have won championship banners. Only three of them have won more consecutive games than the 2017-18 Celts.

“I think it’s very remarkable,” Al Horford, who accumulated six double-doubles during the streak, said Wednesday night of the run. “The streak wasn’t necessarily that we dominated, but the will of this team, it’s something that people have to take into account.”

The Celtics hadn’t lost since Oct. 18, so there’s a lot that people have to take into account, a few notes such as:

  • We were able to watch the Celtics overcome the loss of their prized free-agent signing, and arguably their second-best player, five minutes into the season.
  • We were able to watch five comebacks of 13 or more points – and nearly a sixth Wednesday night.
  • We were able to watch Boston overwhelm the defending-champion Warriors with its ferocious defense, and take them down in Boston.
  • We were able to watch Kyrie Irving go off for 47 points during an overtime win, and watch him score the most points ever by a Celtic during their first 11 games with the team.
  • We were able to watch Jaylen Brown wear his emotions worn on his sleeve, all while watching him streak toward his full potential on the court, as he scored 71 points over a three-game stretch on 56.7 percent shooting.

There were so many memorable moments, and all of them add up to why the Celtics and their fans should be proud of what the team just accomplished.

“We aren’t as good as the 16-game win streak,” said Brad Stevens, “but we do have a lot of resolve. I can’t say enough about our guys’ will to come back.”

All of those comebacks, and all of that grit that the team showcased, have built a foundation on which to grow for the final 63 games of the season.

“Just the fashion that we did it in, the adversity that we had to overcome,” Jayson Tatum reminisced Wednesday night. “I think it brought us closer together, and it made us a tougher team.”

Toughness pushes teams into the winner’s circle when the going gets tough. The Celtics, unquestionably, have an elite level of toughness.

Boston showcased that toughness for the better part of the last five weeks. They won every time they took the court from Oct. 20 until Nov. 20.

Don’t be greedy for more. Be thankful for what just happened.

The Celtics were able to put together one of the most incredible runs in franchise history, and we were all along for the ride.