This Celtics team is starting to put the pieces together

This Celtics team is not perfect. Not a title contender. But they are doing two things really well during this last stretch of winning 7 of their last 9: scoring the ball and taking it away from people.

Celtics last scored 100 points in 10 games in a row in February of 1997.

— Bill Doyle (@BillDoyle15) January 28, 2016

The Celtics have now forced at least 20 turnovers in each of their last four games. First time since 2004.

— Jay King (@ByJayKing) January 28, 2016

These two go together for the Celtics. Forcing turnovers leads to points for this Celts team, as they rank third in the NBA at points off turnovers. They average 19.2 points of turnovers per game. Over the last four games, they've averaged 25.4 pts/game off turnovers. That's a lot of easy offense for a team sometimes prone to long offensive lulls.

It's interesting that this stretch of consistent offense and defense surpasses any similar stretches that the KG/Pierce/Allen era Celtics put together. It speaks to the fact that Brad Stevens is playing a different brand of basketball than Doc Rivers ever did, one right in line with where the NBA is heading.

Let's see if these versatile, aggressive Celts can keep the offense and defense going and put a nice little run together. Winning 8 out 10 games in a single stretch could be the difference between the 4th seed and the 8th seed in the overcrowded East.


Photo Credit AP/Nick Wass