The Boston Celtics got off to a rough start this season, losing their first three games and starting 0-3 for the first time in over a decade. After losing so much talent over the summer, they appeared headed for a long season. The Celtics have largely righted the ship since then, however, going 8-4 over their last 12 games with two of those losses coming in one-possession games. While they’ve battled inconsistency and have struggled in crunch time, they’ve been a much better basketball team over the last few weeks as players have settled into their new roles. During that impressive 12-game span, Boston ranks fourth in the NBA in wins and offensive rating, fifth in net rating and 10th in defensive rating, looking more like the Celtics of old. Over the Celts last 12 games:Wins: 8 (4th most in the NBA)Offense: 119.9 (4th in the NBA)Defense: 111.5 (10th in the NBA)Net Rating: +8.3 (5th in the NBA) pic.twitter.com/qvuOF2C0tJ— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) November 19, 2025 Boston appears to be hitting its stride under Joe Mazzulla, who’s had to manage a lot of moving parts this season. Some early hiccups were expected given all the new faces, but the Celtics seem to have worked out the kinks and are playing more smoothly together. Story continues below advertisement It also helps that Boston’s schedule has gotten easier. After a grueling stretch of 13 games in 22 days to begin the regular season, things have calmed down for the Celtics recently, allowing them to take advantage of easy matchups against the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets. Boston’s capitalized, climbing above .500 for the first time this season with Tuesday’s road win over the Nets. The schedule’s about to get tougher after Friday’s rematch with Brooklyn, however, with five straight games against contenders to close out November and start December. Hopefully the Celtics’ recent success carries over into that tough stretch, because they’ll need to keep playing high-quality basketball if they want to beat the playoff-caliber teams coming up on their slate. Story continues below advertisement