Celtics go for a sweep of California against Clippers Monday night

After defeating the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers on the West Coast, the Celtics finish the road trip against Doc Rivers' team at the Staples Center.

They took a six-hour flight to the West Coast a week ago Sunday night looking like a team in trouble.

The Celtics had just been overwhelmed for three quarters by the Houston Rockets and were booed at home while losing for the fifth time in six games since the All-Star break.

They were in possession of a 38-26 record, stuck in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, and there was little indication of any movement up the standings.

Kyrie Irving was in a testy mood, answering nine questions at a postgame press conference with 40 words, and the atmosphere around the team was hardly joyful.

Next on the schedule for the Celtics was a matchup with the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors to kick off a four-game trip through California.

Fast-forward to one week late, and there is a different feeling around the Celtics.

They have put together a three-game winning streak by routing the Warriors, edging past the Sacramento Kings and taking care of LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.

The Celtics have one last stop on the road trip as they go for the sweep Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center (10:35 p.m., TV: NBC Sports Boston; radio: WBZ-98.5 FM).

With the playoffs starting four weeks from Saturday, the Celtics are on an upward swing in what has been an up-and-down season.

The wins over the Warriors, Kings and Lakers have moved the Celtics within one game of third place in the East with 15 games remaining.

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers are now tied at 42-25 following the Sixers’ 106-89 win over the Pacers Sunday afternoon, and the Celtics can get within a half-game of both teams by beating the Clippers. The Pacers have now lost five of their last seven games.

The Celtics own the tiebreaker over the 76ers thanks to a 3-0 record, and the teams meet one final time in Philadelphia a week from Wednesday night. The Celtics and Pacers split two games and play two more times – March 29 in Boston and April 5 in Indiana.

It looked like the Celtics were fading away from those two teams with the 1-5 start after the All-Star break, but the road trip has pointed them in the right direction.

“I feel like we’re on the right track,’’ Gordon Hayward told reporters after the win over the Lakers. “Certainly winning three in a row helps that. Certainly we can improve, too. We just want to be playing our best basketball come playoff time.’’

The play of Hayward on the trip has had a lot to do with the turnaround. He is averaging 19 points on 24 for 34 shooting, including 5 of 12 from 3-point range, in the three wins.

The Celtics, of course, have showed signs that they were moving forward several other times this season, only to take steps back.

After going 1-4 from Nov. 17 to 24, the Celtics put together an eight-game winning streak, then dropped three in a row.

From Jan. 10 to 14, they lost road games to the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets and bounced back to win 10 of 11 games. But that was followed by miserable losses at home to the Lakers and Clippers when leads of 18 and 28 points were kicked away, starting the 2-6 slide that came before this winning streak.

Now, the Celtics have a chance to sweep a four-game trip, something they did last March 23 to 28 with wins over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Kings, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz.

Time is running out in the regular season, and the Celtics find themselves with a chance to right a lot of wrongs with the playoffs drawing near.

“The stuff that happens in the regular season,’’ Irving told reporters Saturday night, “you can barely remember it in the playoffs.’’

The Celtics certainly remember what happened the last time they faced the Clippers on Feb. 9 at the TD Garden.

They built a 28-point lead over a team that had made wholesale changes just days earlier prior to the trade deadline. But Irving suffered a first-half injury and exited, and the Celtics collapsed, allowing 42 fourth-quarter points and 70 in the second half to lose, 123-112.

Doc Rivers’ Clippers (38-29) are seventh in the Western Conference and have gone 8-3 in the last 11 games starting with that comeback win over the Celtics. They are winning despite trading the team’s top scorer, Tobias Harris, and newcomers Landry Shamet, Ivica Zubac, JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple are making contributions.

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