Celtics fans should savor this improbable turnaround by a toughened team

Forsberg: Time to pause and appreciate how far Celtics have come originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Seedings sweet spots and possible first-round matchups will dominate the conversation around the Boston Celtics for the next few days while the team puts a bow on the 2021-22 regular season.

But before we look forward, let’s take a moment to look back.

Ninety days ago, the Celtics were 18-21. In the aftermath of Evan Fournier’s revenge game inside Madison Square Garden, the Celtics slipped outside the play-in bracket while dipping to 11th in the Eastern Conference.

It’s wild now to go back and read the postgame quotes from that night. Ime Udoka blistered his team for a lack of mental toughness and leadership.

“Either we’re going to make some adjustments and get tired of it, or it’s going to keep happening,” scolded Udoka.

During his turn at the podium, Jayson Tatum got nostalgic thinking about past successes.

“I think we just have to look at the big picture and the grand scheme of things and look back to those years when we was going to the conference finals and make you really appreciate those moments. Because it’s hard, it’s not easy,” said Tatum.

“I think early on, probably my rookie year, I thought that was just normal. Winning all those games, winning games in the playoffs, probably taking it for granted a little bit. But to enjoy those moments, stuff like this happens and I think it makes you appreciate times like that even more, just knowing how hard it is to win in this league.”

For the first time since Tatum’s rookie campaign, the Celtics reached 50 wins again with Wednesday night’s thrashing of the Chicago Bulls. (To be fair, the team would have reached that plateau in 2020 if not for the pandemic shortened season.) Boston is now 32-9 (.780 winning percentage) over a half-season worth of games, a staggering 64-win pace.

A once-maddening Celtics team doesn’t cough up big leads any more. They dominate teams early and then throw it on cruise control…