After finishing .500 last season, the Boston Celtics were 25-25 on Jan. 29. This group of Celtics seemed stuck in mediocrity.
Since then, the Celtics are 20-3.
When you win 87 percent of your games over more than a quarter of the season, you have to wonder about the possibility of winning a championship. Or at least the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics will try to continue to move up the East standings when they face the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. The Jazz are 45-27 and still 5.5-point underdogs at BetMGM vs. a red-hot Celtics team.
Jayson Tatum, Boston’s unquestioned superstar, has been the biggest driver of the surge. He has been great the past few weeks. But others have been playing well too: Robert Williams has emerged as a solid rim protector, veteran Al Horford is scoring and rebounding up front, and Marcus Smart is contributing in many ways. The Celtics have been among the best teams in the NBA on offense and defense over the past two months.
Boston looks like a contender and…
