Pregame Post-Ups: Shorthanded C’s Look to Enter Break on High Note

BOSTON – All-Star break couldn’t have come at a much better time for the Boston Celtics, who are currently battling through injury and illness. They just have one more obstacle to overcome in facing the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night, before earning some much-needed R&R after grinding through a jam-packed, pre-All-Star slate.

“It’s a good time for everybody,” Stevens said of the upcoming break. “The one thing the NBA didn’t do when it adjusted its schedule forward, starting games on Oct. 17, was they didn’t move the All-Star break forward, so you’re playing more games the last two years than have ever been played in a row. And you can see it’s ultimately something people look forward to, but you don’t want to look ahead. We have a game to play tonight against a team playing very well, and if we can leave it on the court, that’s what we hope to do.”

Boston will have to leave everything on the court Wednesday night because they will be missing four key bodies against the Pistons. Aron Baynes (foot) and Kyrie Irving (knee) are both sidelined with injuries, while Terry Rozier and Robert Williams are both at home recovering from a stomach bug.

The hope is that they can battle through the injuries and enter the break on a high note, while using Tuesday night’s 112-109, shorthanded win in Philadelphia as motivation.

“We realize that we’ve played pretty well in the past month and a half, although there have been multiple days where it sure hasn’t felt like it. And we played well last tonight, in response to two that we really don’t feel good about,” said Stevens. “We want to feel good about ourselves heading [into the break]. It doesn’t mean you’re going to win the game, you just gotta play with great effort and you gotta play together. Last night was a real purposeful game. Like, we played the right way the whole game and we just need to back that up.”

Do that, and the Celtics will be able to enter their well-deserved break with a positive attitude, which can hopefully set the tone for the final stretch of the regular season.

- Taylor Snow