Celtics have eight weeks to sort out their problems

BOSTON — Great anticipation built throughout the summer and into the fall leading up to opening night of the 2018-19 Celtics’ season.

The team that had reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals without both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward was the clear-cut favorite to make it to the NBA Finals since their two All-Stars were returning.

LeBron James, who had won eight Eastern Conference titles in a row, was now on the [...]

BOSTON — Great anticipation built throughout the summer and into the fall leading up to opening night of the 2018-19 Celtics’ season.

The team that had reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals without both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward was the clear-cut favorite to make it to the NBA Finals since their two All-Stars were returning.

LeBron James, who had won eight Eastern Conference titles in a row, was now on the other side of the country playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, and the roadblock to the Finals seemed to have been removed.

It was all right there in front of the Celtics as they prepared for the Oct. 16 opener against the Philadelphia 76ers.

With Irving, Hayward, Al Horford and second-year players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics appeared to have a starting lineup capable of playing in June and going against the champion Golden State Warriors.

It was supposed to be smooth sailing for the Celtics with a mixture of veterans and up-and-coming young players, a team that had Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris, Marcus Smart, Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis coming off the bench.

Nearly three quarters of the way through the season, though, it has been anything but smooth sailing for the Celtics.

With the NBA All-Star break at hand, the Celtics are tied with the 76ers for fourth place in the East at 37-21, three games behind the record they had at this point a year ago.

Trailing the Milwaukee Bucks (43-14) and the Toronto Raptors (43-16) by 6½ and 5½ games, respectively, the Celtics’ best hope would seem to be landing the No. 3 seed by beating out the surprising Indiana Pacers (38-20) and the Sixers (37-21).

There are 24 games remaining for the Celtics to get on a steady path heading into the playoffs after going through a strange four months. They resume the schedule with a three-game road trip that opens on Thursday night in Milwaukee.

“It hasn’t been a perfect season for us,’’ said Hayward. “There’s been some ups, some downs, for everybody individually and collectively.

“We had a couple of tough losses (to the Lakers and Clippers when leads of 18 and 28 were kicked away at home before two wins last week) and I think that’s kind of been our season — some tough losses and good wins. We’re trying to get ready for the end of the year and hopefully we can play our best basketball.’’

The Celtics put together a four-game winning streak from Oct. 25-Nov. 1, then dropped four of the next five games. They won eight in a row from Nov. 26-Dec. 14, then went on a three-game losing streak.

Another stretch of four straight wins from Jan. 2-9 was followed by three brutal road losses to Miami, Orlando and Brooklyn. And then, after going 10-1 from Jan. 16- Feb. 5, the Celtics were shocked at home by the Lakers and Clippers.

“I think it’s just been a learning experience,’’ said Horford. “I know we all wanted it to go very smooth. I know everyone else expected that from us as well. Sometimes you have to be humbled as a group.

“You have to learn and you have to understand that you need to play a certain way to win. We were reminded of that after that Clippers game. You have to be able to play at a high level and commit to the defensive end. That’s not on Coach [Brad Stevens], that’s on us as players.

“That’s kind of been the ride we’ve been on. I hope we can get past that and continue that level of play.’’

There have been all sorts of off-the-court issues. Irving, who declared to season-ticket holders in October that he was planning on re-signing with the Celtics in July, backtracked on that earlier this month.

Morris ripped his teammates after the horror show loss to the Clippers, said there was too much individualistic play and not enough fun.

Hayward has struggled in his return from a gruesome ankle injury, though he went into the all-star break on a high note.

Both Hayward and Brown lost their spots in the starting lineup, but both have adapted to new roles to give the Celtics a strong second unit.

“We’re still fighters. That’s it,’’ said Smart. “We’ve been hit with a lot of adversity and it’s going to continue to hit us. But we keep finding ways to overcome it and finding ways to come up with victories.

“With all the distractions and noise that’s going on, we’ve got guys stepping up each and every night.’’

The Celtics’ schedule in the final quarter of the season is not going to be easy. After facing the Bucks and Raptors on the upcoming road trip, they head to the West Coast in early March to play the Warriors, surprising Sacramento Kings, Lakers and Clippers, and four of the last six games of the season are on the road where the Celtics are 14-13.

When there is chemistry and the ball is moving, the Celtics are a dangerous team capable of piling up a lot of points. When selfishness creeps in, there are horrible losses, like the ones to the Lakers, Clippers, Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns.

The playoffs begin eight weeks from this weekend, giving the Celtics time to figure things out.

“We just have a nice balance of veterans and young players and I just think it takes time,’’ said Horford. “That’s why I feel like the regular season is to prepare us, all these lessons to prepare us for when the postseason starts.’’