There aren't do-overs in basketball, but the Boston Celtics could certainly use one. Off to a 15-17 start heading into the All-Star break, the Celtics had drastically underperformed expectation coming into the All-Star break. But that's all in the past, and it's time to move forward. The second half offers the Celtics a fresh start, according to reserve Sasha Pavlovic.
"Of course," Pavlovic said when asked if the second half offers a clean slate. "We always think positively. I think now that everybody's back, everybody but Jermaine [O'Neal] -- hopefully he'll be back, too, I feel like we can really get better as long as we play together, play as hard as we can defensively. We're going to be fine."
Pavlovic hasn't played much as the season has progressed, but he did see major minutes -- even some starts -- at the start of the year due to Paul Pierce's heel injury. Pavlovic watched from the bench as the Celtics opened up the second half with a closely contested 86-83 win over Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. After a strong start, the Celtics faltered away a 16-point lead and trailed at points in the fourth quarter before coming back to win.
"We just stuck together, kept playing and that's why we won the game," Pavlovic said. "That's all we have to do every game."
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