Six biggest questions for Celtics to answer post-All-Star break

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Six biggest questions for Celtics to answer post-All-Star break originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The NBA All-Star Game might have been an interminable slog with very limited amounts of actual basketball, but the All-Star break is zipping by. The Boston Celtics will be back on the floor Thursday night in Philadelphia ready to rip through 27 games in 53 nights to finish up the 2024-25 regular season.

Here are the six biggest questions we’ll be seeking answers to in the “second half” of the season:

1. Will Celtics elevate their play at home against elite opponents?

You know the numbers by now. The Celtics are a league-best 22-6 on the road but somehow just 17-10 at home.

Those TD Garden missteps ultimately may cost the Celtics a chance at the top spot in the Eastern Conference — more on that later — but the good news is that a slew of top-tier opponents should increase Boston’s focus level on its home turf.

Starting Sunday, the Celtics host the:

Knicks (February 23), with a chance to create some distance between the East’s No. 2 and No. 3 seeds.

Cavaliers (February 28), in the last head-to-head meeting of East leaders.

Nuggets (March 2), who were missing Nikola Jokic in the teams’ first meeting out west.

That Cavs game kick-starts a seven-game home stand that also includes a visit from Robert Williams III and the Blazers (the most important game of the season for some of us), Kevin Durant and the Suns, and Luka Doncic and the Lakers, all before a potential Finals preview against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 12.

There are a bunch of five-star matchups in there, which has typically brought out the best in Boston. The final 27 games won’t lack for intrigue.

The Celtics can split their season series against the No. 1 seed Cavs with a victory at TD Garden on Feb. 28.

2. Will a bit of midseason rest jump-start Jrue Holiday?

It’s been a pretty crazy 16 months for Jrue Holiday. There was the eve-of-training-camp deal that delivered him to Boston in October 2023, a championship season with the Celtics, a multi-continent gold-medal trip with Team USA, and now this new 2024-25 campaign.

Holiday hasn’t…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/six-biggest-questions-celtics-answer-095754412.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2025-02-18 09:57:00

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