After the Celtics win on Wednesday night, the Celtics ended their brief home stand. The team will now embark on an eleven day, five game west coast road trip. The team will travel roughly 7,000 miles before they return to Boston once again.
The Celtics will start off the trip against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday in a game that Boston should probably win. The Suns season has been dismal at times, and Isaiah Thomas should be motivated by being back in Phoenix to play the team that traded him to Boston just over one year ago. It would be big for the Celtics to get a win in the first game of the road trip.
The Celtics will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers. The Celtics won in a tight overtime game when the teams played in February, led by one of Isaiah Thomas' best performances of the season. I expect the Clippers to seek for revenge, specifically Chris Paul, who was outperformed by Thomas.
The Celtics will then head North to take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday. The Celtics ran Portland out of the gym earlier this month when the Trail Blazers came to Boston. Still, Portland is still fighting for good playoff seeding, so this game will mean just as much to them as it will to Boston. Look for Damian Lillard to have a big night.
The Celtics will face probably the toughest test of the season when they enter the Oracle Arena to face the Golden State Warriors. First of all, Golden State has not lost a home game all season. Second of all, they are extremely motivated by their opportunity to finish the season with the best regular season record in NBA history. It's safe to say that this is as close to a no win situation as there could be for the Celtics.
The Celtics will finish the road trip with a much less intimidating opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Los Angeles did steal a win from the Celtics in Boston in December. Be on the lookout for the Kobe show. I can picture him putting up 40 shots in his final game against Boston.
Realistically, it would expect to see the Celtics win three of these games. The Suns and Lakers are teams that the Celtics should be able to beat at this point in the season. I also think that the Celtics could steal a game against the Trail Blazers or the Clippers. A win against the Warriors, however, might be wishful thinking.
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