BOSTON — The Celtics will not exactly be easing into their seven-day NBA All-Star break.
Before getting a much needed February vacation, the Celtics will play three of the top six Western Conference teams this week, the first two games on the road.
They will be in Oklahoma City to go against the sixth-place Thunder at 3:30 on Sunday afternoon and then will face the fifth-place Houston Rockets on Tuesday night in Texas.
The difficult stretch will end on Thursday night [...]
BOSTON — The Celtics will not exactly be easing into their seven-day NBA All-Star break.
Before getting a much needed February vacation, the Celtics will play three of the top six Western Conference teams this week, the first two games on the road.
They will be in Oklahoma City to go against the sixth-place Thunder at 3:30 on Sunday afternoon and then will face the fifth-place Houston Rockets on Tuesday night in Texas.
The difficult stretch will end on Thursday night when former Celtics coach Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers make their annual TD Garden visit. The Celtics then will be idle until Feb. 21.
The Celtics (36-15, third in the Eastern Conference) take a six-game winning streak on the road, the second-best run of the season. They have won nine of the last 10 games, though six of the victories were against teams with losing records.
The competition will be ramped up in the upcoming five days starting with the Thunder, who are 32-20 after winning nine of their last 10 games, including the last four in a row.
Even though Paul George was traded to the Clippers and Russell Westbrook went to the Rockets last summer, the Thunder are still just a game behind Houston.
They have balanced scoring with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (19.5), Dennis Schroder (19.3) and Danilo Gallinari (19.1). Chris Paul is averaging 17.1 points and 6.6 assists in his first season with the Thunder while Steven Adams does all the dirty work and averages 10.8 points and 9.2 rebounds.
“Yeah, really tough,’’ Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of the road trip. “Early game on Sunday. We’ll get ready to try to play our best.
“Oklahoma City has had a heck of a year. They present a lot of problems — excellent, excellent play all the way up and down their lineup. They’re really connected. One of my favorite teams to watch in the league this year, so it’ll be a real challenge.’’
The trip to Oklahoma will be a homecoming of sorts for center Enes Kanter, who played two full seasons and part of another one with the Thunder.
“From day one, they opened their arms and always gave me a warm welcome,’’ Kanter said. “It’s very special to me.’’
The Celtics then get to deal with the NBA’s leading scorer, James Harden, and Westbrook two days later in Houston.
The Rockets are 33-19 with seven wins in the last 10 games but had a 36-point road loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. Westbrook was held out of that game to rest and Houston was handed its worst loss since Feb. 20, 2002.
Harden is leading the league with 35.3 points per game to go with 7.3 assists and 6.4 rebounds. He will be finishing above 30 points a game for the third consecutive season. Westbrook is scoring 26.7 points to go with eight rebounds and 7.3 assists.
“It is a difficult challenge for us,’’ Kanter said of the two games away from the Garden. “We just need to worry about us, just go out there and do what we do.’’
The Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night despite having three starters — Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis — out with injuries.
After the game, Stevens said that Hayward (sore foot) probably would return against the Thunder, while Brown and Theis (who both have right ankle sprains) should be back soon.
“I think Gordon will be available Sunday, the other two will be day-to-day,’’ Stevens said. “I haven’t gotten an exact on either one, but we’re taking them on the trip. Hopefully, they’ll at least play by Tuesday, but maybe Sunday.”
The Celtics have 31 games to go with 17 of them on the road. They made no moves before the trade deadline on Thursday but could be adding a player via the buyout market in the next few weeks.
“I feel we’ve got everything we need to win a championship,’’ Kanter said. “We just have to go out there and prove it. I think we’ve got an amazing group of guys on and off the court. We just need to go out there and play hard, play smart and stay together.’’
Starting Sunday, the Celtics will play eight straight games against Western Conference teams. They next play an Eastern Conference opponent on March 3 when Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets are scheduled to be at the Garden.
jfenton@enterprisenews.com
On Twitter at @JFenton_ent.