Celtics win streak hits four games after slow start

A 128-100 victory over the New York Knicks, with Kyrie Irving scoring 22 and Jaylen Brown adding 21, gives the Celtics a 14-10 record.

BOSTON – Nearly two weeks ago, they had reached roughly the one-quarter mark of the season with a disappointing 10-10 record.

There had been shocking home losses for the Celtics to the Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz and New York Knicks, a stunning 1-4 road trip and a three-game losing streak that came right after an emotional overtime win over the Toronto Raptors.

A turnaround was expected to take place, but instead, the struggles continued for the Celtics.

Finally, though, they are starting to look like a much different team, one that has climbed to 14-10 with the season’s second four-game winning streak.

They avenged one of those brutal losses from earlier in the season on Thursday night, pulling away from the Knicks, 128-100, at the TD Garden with another strong offensive display.

In the winning streak, the Celtics are averaging 124.5 points and have hit 128 points twice in the past three games.

The offense was flowing against the Knicks, who embarrassed the Celtics the night before Thanksgiving, resulting in boos from the home crowd. This time, though, the Celtics scored 69 first-half points and added 59 more in the second half, leading from start to finish.

Kyrie Irving made 9 of 15 shots for 22 points to go with eight assists and Jaylen Brown returned from a three-game absence due to a sore back to score a season-best 21 off the bench on 7 for 10 shooting.

Al Horford got off to a slow start before finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Jayson Tatum made 7 of 11 shots with three 3-pointers for 17 points and Gordon Hayward was the playmaker for the second unit with eight points, six rebounds and four assists.

“For us, we’re just having a lot more fun, making sure that we’re paying attention to detail and to make sure we’re playing at a level that we all demand out of each other,’’ said Irving, who added the team now has “a different identity.’’

The offense has definitely shown improvement in recent weeks, and the Celtics made 53 percent of their shots against the Knicks.

“It definitely puts us in a better position,’’ said Irving of the Celtics playing at a faster pace and moving the ball. “It creates other opportunities that we don’t have to generate a half-court offense and it just forces the defense to be on their heels for most of the game.

“When we’re playing like that, we’re pretty successful. Obviously we have a great head coach that does a great job of play calling, but he also gives us a lot of freedom to go out there and create for one another. I think we’ve been doing a great job of just trusting each other, having everybody touch the ball in certain possessions, being aware of what the defense is trying to take away from us.’’

The Knicks had a double-digit lead against the Celtics before winning, 117-109, on the night before Thanksgiving, but there would be none of that in the rematch 15 nights later.

The Celtics were determined not to let what happened in late November occur again and set the tone from the start, then fought off any Knicks’ bids to make a comeback.

“We had a disappointing loss against them recently here,’’ said Horford. “We just wanted to come out and set the tone from the beginning. I felt like we were able to do that. We weren’t able to put them away like we wanted, but we definitely played much better.’’

Coach Brad Stevens was concerned about the Celtics maintaining a compete level earlier in the season, but that problem area appears to be fixed.

There were few lulls in the win over the Knicks, as was the case in the other three wins during the current streak.

“I think our guys are in a good spot from that standpoint,’’ said Stevens. “I don’t see some of the issues we had earlier in the season when I watch us play. There are things we have to fix, but we’re competing at a good level.’’

Brown, who had started 19 games before his injury, and Hayward give the Celtics two top-notch players coming off the bench, and the starting group of Irving, Horford, Marcus Morris, Marcus Smart and Tatum is clicking.

“We’re playing well,’’ said Brown. “I think there’s a healthy balance between the first and second units and that’s what it’s about, finding that balance. We’ve just got to win games, whatever it takes.

“We’re definitely a different team now. We’ve got it rolling a little bit and we want to keep it that way.’’

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.