Celtics open second half of the season on Saturday night

At the midway point, the Eastern Conference favorites are in fifth place with a 25-16 record, though there has been improvement after a 10-10 start in October and November.

They began the season three months ago as the consensus favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

Midway through the 82-game schedule, the Celtics find themselves stuck in the No. 5 spot in the conference standings with a 25-16 record, looking up at the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers.

A team that Las Vegas listed as having an over-under win total of 59 – second only to the champion Golden State Warriors – is on a pace to finish 50-32, which would be only the third-best record under coach Brad Stevens.

The first half of the season, which ended on Thursday night, did not go as planned for the Celtics, who stumbled out to a 10-10 start amidst such high expectations before winning 15 of the last 21 games.

Yes, there has been improvement in recent days, but the Celtics still don’t look like the team that was supposed to be the best in the East.

“We have a long way to go,’’ said Stevens. “I think we’ve done more good things recently. I feel a little bit better about us week to week, but we’ve still got a long way to go.’’

The Celtics begin the second half of the season on Saturday night in Orlando against the Magic (7:05, TV: NBC Sports Boston; radio: WROR-105.7 FM) as a three-game road trip continues.

They will be trying to bounce back from a 115-99 loss to the Miami Heat when a four-game winning streak was stopped on a night when the Celtics looked sluggish. The defeat on Thursday also included Marcus Morris shoving Jaylen Brown as they exchanged words on the bench during a second-quarter timeout.

So just when the Celtics looked like they might be turning a corner, an ugly loss complete with a confrontation on the bench pops up.

The Celtics have 41 games and 13 weeks until the playoffs start to get their act fully together.

“We’ve been through some ups and downs,’’ said Jayson Tatum. “But we’re going in the right direction. That’s all we can ask for.’’

Added Morris: “As the season goes on, I think we’ll get better. The second half of the season, I think, is going to be our better half.’’

The offense, which struggled during the early part of the season, seems to be coming around. The Celtics had at least 30 assists in five consecutive games before the loss to Miami and were scoring at a high rate with everyone getting involved.

Moving Gordon Hayward and Brown to the bench in November turned out to be the right move as Morris and Marcus Smart added toughness to the starting five while the bench became strengthened.

“Obviously we struggled out of the gate, more offensively than I thought (would happen),’’ said Stevens. “Our offense has been good the past two months. I’m more encouraged than discouraged. The record being what it is, I think we’ve got a lot of room to still improve, but I think we’ve also shown we can do a few things.’’

The improved play of Hayward and Brown has been part of the reason why the Celtics have gone 15-6 in the past 21 games.

Hayward is feeling better as he returns from a gruesome injury while Brown had trouble getting used to being in a lineup with Hayward and Kyrie Irving.

“It’s just adapting,’’ said Brown. “We’ve got a lot of pieces out there. It’s trying to figure out who you are and where you fit into this team. It’s going to continue to change. You’ve got to be patient and continue to work hard and things will fall in place.’’

That is what the Celtics as a team are hoping happens in the second half of the season.

The schedule works in their favor to begin the second half. After this road trip ends on Monday night in Brooklyn, the Celtics play 11 of the next 15 games over 29 days before the All-Star break at TD Garden, where they are 15-5.

The Celtics need to continue building chemistry and start making a move up the conference standings over the course of the second half.

“I just think our cohesion (is key),’’ said Irving. “That’s all we’ve spoken about, our patience with the big picture and knowing what it is, knowing how to accomplish it, going after it every single day.

“As long as we do that and be able to weather some storms, be able to battle some great teams and showcase why we are one of the top teams, (that’s important). We’re just building how to be a veteran championship ballclub. It’s a culture thing you’ve got to build every single day.’’

The process has not gone as smoothly as everyone thought, and a team picked to win the East has four teams ahead of it midway through the season.

“If you don’t humble yourself, the world has a way of humbling it for you,’’ said Marcus Smart. “For us to go through what we’ve been going through, it’ something we needed and brought us back to reality.’’

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