Celtics' Most Pivotal Matchups After 2022 NBA All-Star Break

The Boston Celtics went from being maddeningly inconsistent to too hot to touch.

Since Jan. 8, this club has 16 wins to show from its past 21 games. If that sounds like a ton, that's because it is. Only the NBA-best Phoenix Suns have a better record over this stretch.

So are these the real Shamrocks fans should expect to see the rest of the way? Or might Boston have taken advantage of some breaks in the schedule to punch a few pounds above its weight class?

The following three contests—the most critical ones left on the schedule—will go a long way toward answering those inquiries.

The Celtics have been hot enough to put the East's No. 1 seed within reach. But they were also slow enough out of the gate that they haven't buried the rest of the competition behind him.

While Boston is just 4.5 games out of the top spot, it's also only a half-game up on a Toronto Raptors team that's been nearly as hot (8-2 over its past 10 games) and is seeded seventh. As good as these clubs have been of late, it's possible one or even both winds up in the play-in tournament.

The Celtics need to do anything they can to try to create separation over the Raptors. Getting this game would help a lot. It would give Boston the season series win (up 2-1 for now) over its Atlantic Division rival, which could prove vital should the final seeding come down to tiebreakers.

The Celtics, who lost the first meeting but won the past two by double digits, play the Minnesota Timberwolves the night before this game and host the Miami Heat two nights after. Boston needs to get up for all three games, but this could have the biggest implications on the Celtics' final standing.

If Boston's surge has done nothing else, it has green-lighted ambitious goals for this group.

That includes tracking down a team like the Chicago Bulls, who entered All-Star break tied atop the Eastern Conference standings with a .644 winning percentage. The Celtics would need to make up a 4.5-game deficit in less than two months, which is as difficult as it sounds, but this head-to-head bout offers a chance to help close the gap.

Assuming the Celtics still have a puncher's chance at a top seed by this point—the campaign closes April 10—this begins their three-game tightrope walk to the finish line. The final contest, a road tilt with the roaring Memphis Grizzlies, didn't make the cut since it's out of conference, but all three outings could be colossally challenging.

The Bulls and Celtics have split their two matchups this term, which were both played in Boston. Chicago drew first blood by way of an epic (and historic) Boston collapse, while the Celtics scratched out a two-point win in the second with all five starters pouring in between 14 and 23 points.

In case you didn't notice the dates, this game is a night after Boston's trip to Chicago. It's also against a Bucks team hoping to even the series (2-1 Celtics) in case tiebreakers are needed to sort out the congested Eastern Conference.

Boston secured the first two wins of this series. The first featured 38 points on 27 shots from the since-traded Dennis Schroder, plus no Giannis Antetokounmpo or Khris Middleton, so maybe it wasn't the most revealing matchup. But the Bucks had their stars for the second outing and still couldn't keep up, thanks in no small part to Jayson Tatum going for 42 points on 16-of-25 shooting (7-of-13 outside).

Milwaukee turned the tide on Christmas Day, but not before Boston blew a 19-point advantage to let the game slip away. The Celtics also squandered 50 combined points from Tatum and Jaylen Brown while searching for answers against Antetokounmpo and never finding any (36 points, 12 rebounds and five assists).

The Bucks are seeded directly above the Celtics with only a two-game gap between them. If these two are still rubbing elbows in the season's final week, this contest could have major implications for the Eastern Conference playoff picture.