It wasn’t long ago that the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers were playing each other in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The offseasons that followed, though, were quite different.
The C’s kept the band together, while LeBron James took his talents — and Cleveland’s chances — to South Beach.
The results aren’t surprising. Even through all the injuries, the C’s are 33-10, top dog in the East going into tonight’s game against Cleveland. The Cavs, just 8-35, have only one win in their last 26.
But before you chalk up a ‘W’ for the C’s, don’t forget the trouble they have with bad teams.
“If you look at the whole season, it’s been a terrific season so far,” Doc Rivers said. “But in that terrific season, we’ve had some bad losses, too. And I tell our guys that.
“Some of the teams that have beaten us are under .500, and those are tough losses for a team that shouldn’t lose those games.”
Five of the Celtics’ 10 losses have come against sub-.500 teams, including one to Cleveland two games into the season. Most recently, there was the 85-83 defeat in Washington on Saturday.
“You think about the games that we’ve lost this year, and the teams are at the bottom,” Glen Davis said. “It’s all mental with us, that’s all it is.
“We try not to look past anybody.”
