The Boston Celtics are playing some of their best basketball of the season right now, and they're climbing up the Eastern Conference standings as a result.
The C's extended their win streak to a season-high four games Friday night with a 102-93 victory over the Detroit Pistons on the road.
Boston is 7-3 in its last 10 games and 13-6 since Dec. 31 -- when it beat the defending Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in impressive fashion.
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The Celtics, as a result of their recent resurgence, are just 3.5 games out of third place amid a very tightly packed group of teams in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
What sparked Boston's recent turnaround?
“Sick of losing, I guess. Sick of going out like that. Sick of having the disgusting taste in your mouth," C's center Robert Williams told reporters after beating the Pistons on Friday night.
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"Just checking each other as far as, like, (Jaylen Brown) telling me ‘you gotta sit down on defense.’ Or I’ll tell JB, ‘hey, stop losing him.’ Just all in. Not giving negative responses when you receive criticism, I feel like we’ve been doing a great job of that.”
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Williams also credited the older players on the roster with setting the tone before games.
“Our older guys are doing a great job of, before games in the locker room, just keeping a great energy and talking to us. JB, (Marcus) Smart, Al (Horford), all them are doing a great job preparing us before we even go out on the court. So when you got your main players fired up and they’re talking in your ear you gotta follow their lead.”
Williams has played a key role in the Celtics' recent uptick in performance.
He's averaging a career-high 9.5 points and a team-leading 9.8 rebounds per game. His 2.2 blocks per game are the fourth-most of any player in the league. Most importantly, Williams has been healthy and in the lineup for most of the Celtics' games this season. Injuries have been an issue for Williams throughout his career, but not so much in 2021-22.
The Celtics will aim to extend their win streak again Sunday night when they play the Orlando Magic on the road.