On this day, the Boston Celtics tied the NBA record for the best turnaround in a single season for any team in league history.
The team they tied was the 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs, who went from 20-62 the season prior to 56-26 the next.
Boston went 24-58 in 2006-07, and the victory, a 92-77 win over the Indiana Pacers, gave the Celtics a 60-15 record so far that season (they would finish 66-16, losing just one more contest that season).
Still, for the Celtics, the regular season record was far from the focus.
“We’re well past where I’ve been,” said Paul Pierce via the Associated Press.
“I’ve only won 49 games. Sixty is all good. We have a bigger picture in mind.” That bigger picture would be realized with Banner 17, but that is a story for another day.
It is also the anniversary of a win over the New York Knicks in 2017, a 110-94 blowout at Madison Square Garden., and the first 50-win season of point guard Isaiah Thomas’ career.
“I’ve never won 50 games in my NBA career, so definitely was an individual goal of mine coming into this season to win 50 games and I’m just glad we got to that,” IT related at the time courtesy of the AP.
“But like I keep saying, we’ve got a lot more work to do.”
While no championship would be in the offing this season, Thomas had an outstanding performance in limited minutes, logging 19 points and 6 assists in only 24 minutes to push Boston over the 50-win threshold.
Shooting guard Jaylen Brown would add 16 points, big man Al Horford 14 points and 7 boards, and guard Marcus Smart 14 points and 5 assists off the bench in the victory.
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