The Boston Celtics can head into the All-Star Break knowing that they're playing some of their best basketball of the season.
The Celtics won their fourth consecutive game on Thursday night. Granted, they were playing the shorthanded Toronto Raptors, but they still impressed after overcoming a 70-point first-half from the Raptors to earn the 132-125 victory.
Celtics vs. Raptors highlights: C's earn fourth straight victory, 132-125
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The Celtics are now sitting at 19-17 and feel far different than the team that dropped two games under .500 just a couple of weeks ago. But can this last? We'll soon see, but here are the top takeaways from a well-rounded effort by the C's.
1. The Celtics' bench is keying their recent hot streak.
In recent games, the Celtics bench has played very well, and that trend continued on Thursday night. The Celtics got 51 total points from their bench, their fifth-most from the unit this year, and four of the five bench players who saw action tallied double-digit points.
Even more impressive? Their lights-out shooting during that contest.
Indeed, the Celtics' bench has been a big part of their four-game winning streak. Over that span, the bench has been averaging 38.5 points per game and has been giving the Celtics' starting lineup the needed boost to help them get over the hump and get these victories.
Jeff Teague has been more aggressive and is finding ways to impact the game. Payton Pritchard is making smart plays and big-time threes. And, of course, Robert Williams has been doing things like this to help the team on both ends:
With Marcus Smart's return on the horizon after the All-Star break, this bench unit should only get better moving forward. If they can keep playing with this type of energy, they'll surely be able to provide the scoring punch needed to stabilize this Celtics squad as they look to climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
2. Grant Williams did an admirable job filling in for Daniel Theis.
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Theis played seven minutes for the Boston Celtics in the first half. After his initial stint on the floor, he wasn't seen again.
Brad Stevens confirmed that Theis didn't play much because the team couldn't effectively use the two-big lineup, and as a result, the team played smaller. And the Celtics got by without Theis thanks, in part, to Grant Williams' effort in the contest.
Williams played 21 minutes off the bench for the C's, which was just the 12th-most minutes he's logged on the year. However, he finished the game with a season-high 17 points and shot 7-of-9 from the floor. He was aggressive in going to the basket to grab offensive boards -- he had two -- and he also shot well and in rhythm from behind the arc.
All told, Williams did a lot of what Theis has done this season. He shot well, he rebounded when he needed to, and he put forth a strong effort on the defensive end.
Williams has only played in five of the last 10 Celtics games, but expect him to see more opportunities to get consistent minutes after his Thursday performance against the Raptors.
3. The Celtics' magic number is 116.
On 15 occasions this season, the Celtics have scored at least 116 points. And according to Sean Grande, the Celtics have won all of those games.
However, their success isn't nearly as great when they score fewer than that. When the team scores less than 116 points, they have just a 3-17 record.
So, Boston will want to set a nightly goal of scoring 116 points. But in the second half of the season, they also need to get better at finding ways to win grind-it-out defensive battles when their offense isn't exactly firing on all cylinders.
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The Celtics will now head to the All-Star break. They'll return to action in the second half of the season on Thursday, March 11, against Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets.