Celtics Finally Turning the Corner?

Just over a week ago, there was talk of deconstructing the entire team and starting from square one. That was before one of the best weeks in recent memory, one that featured a home-and-home sweep of the Magic and a solid win over a talented Pacers team. The Celtics, in the midst of the 4 game winning streak now sit at 9-9 on the season. While not spectacular by any means, it is certainly a heck of a lot better than it was just a week ago. Keep in mind, the winning streak has come with Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen out with injuries. Avery Bradley has played the best basketball of his young career and Mickael Pietrus and Brandon Bass have emerged as solid scoring options off the bench.

Granted, there are still 46 games remaining in the lockout-shortened season and this winning streak may turn out to mean nothing, but it is at least promising to Celtics fans considering how the team played over roughly the first month of the season. Now is the time for Boston to make up some ground in the standings with 5 of their next 6 opponents currently sitting under the .500 mark.

Another impressive part of the winning streak has been Doc Rivers' fearlessness to play anyone on the roster at any time as evidenced by the fact that Sasha Pavlovic and Chris Wilcox have both received some serious minutes this week. While partly out of necessity, the bench unit seems to have finally found  a level of chemistry that can only help an ever-aging team. Kevin Garnett is as fragile as ever and the team needs Wilcox to continue to play at a high level when #5 heads to the bench every 5 minutes or so.

Also, with the injury to Rondo, Avery Bradley has shown he is at least an NBA capable player, especially on defense where he never seems to slow down. The former Texas guard constantly hounds the opponent's point guard and may be the best on-ball defender the Celtics have had off the bench since the departure of Tony Allen a few years ago. If Bradley's game can continue to develop over the next couple years, he could make the Celtics look brilliant for selecting him with the 18th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.

As previously mentioned, this winning streak may turn out to not mean a whole lot, but the return of Rondo and Allen, along with Jermaine O'Neal will only help an improving team that is slowly climbing up the Eastern Conference standings. For now, let's hope the team truly is beginning to turn the corner and will play up to their capabilities on a nightly basis.