The Celtics were treading water when they embarked on this potentially treacherous West Coast swing.
They weren’t quite sinking when they had lost four of their seven games leading up to the trip, but they had hit the point in the season where they were no longer swimming along with ease.
The Celtics eventually hit their stride and bounced back. Beating the Timberwolves, Rockets, and Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets and going 3-1 against four of the top-eight teams in the West was a solid way to break out of a slump.
“It was supposed to be 4-0, but the second-best was 3-1,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.