Robb: Celtics Skid Against Western Conference Likely Won't End Soon
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Celtics look to be a better squad this season, but Saturday night's blowout loss to the Houston Rockets brought about a painful reminder: better might not be good enough when it comes to Western Conference opponents.
Right now the Celtics are in the midst of a franchise record 21 straight losses on the road against Western Conference teams. That streak spans over three seasons, as Boston lost against Houston already last Saturday, dropped all 15 road games against the West last year, as well as the final five matchups out west during the closing stages of their 2012-13 campaign.
Boston's last win against a Western Conference opponent came all the way back in February 2013, when Paul Pierce helped carry a Rajon Rondo-less Celtics team to an overtime win in Utah.
So when exactly will this horrific losing stretch against west opponents come to a close? Year two of the Brad Stevens era plus a healthy Rajon Rondo must mean the Celtics are on the verge of ending this futility? That's not a bad attitude to have, but the ugly truth for Boston is that they still don't have the horses to match up against Western Conference opponents most nights.
The Celtics get a couple more shots this month to get into win column out west, starting with Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs are heavily favored (10 points) in this contest and that will remain a trend throughout the upcoming season for Celtics road opponents.
While the Celtics may be far improved in 2014-15, it's hard to find another team in the Western Conference with less talent than Boston besides the Utah Jazz and the injury-plagued Los Angeles Lakers. Throw in an awful road track record into the mix (Boston went 9-32 away from home last year) and you have a recipe for plenty of losses for this bunch yet again.
Unfortunately, the Celtics don't face the Jazz or Lakers away from the TD Garden until late January 2015, so the team's best chances of ending the historic run won't be coming anytime soon. Here's a look at some potential road wins for Boston out west though this year.
January 26: @ Utah
January 28: @ Minnesota
February 20: @ Sacramento
February 22: @ LA Lakers
Until that January 26th matchup, tough road challenges against the Mavericks, Grizzlies, Clippers, Blazers, Nuggets, and Warriors await the Celtics. You can't rule out an upset during that stretch of games for the Celtics, but I wouldn't bet against this streak continuing until the 2015 calendar year.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
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