CLEVELAND — There are very few chances for a team to catch its breath amid the rigors of an NBA season. But the Celtics on Saturday began a particularly unforgiving six-game stretch in which every team they face is currently in position to make the playoffs.
After losing to the Cavaliers, 120-103, Saturday night, the Celtics will play the Grizzlies, Rockets, Pacers, Thunder, and Raptors. Coach Brad Stevens would prefer that his team not approach it as a grueling segment of the season, though.
“You just have to keep focusing on the next task at hand and grind it out, and keep kind of looking at what you can do on this possession and staying in this moment,’’ Stevens said. “Because I think if we look at it as a six-game grouping, then I think that we’ll miss the point of today. And I think staying in the moment is important.’’
The Celtics also are not in a position to play up or down to an opponent. This season they have wins against the Cavaliers, Clippers, and Thunder, but they have also lost to the Lakers, Nets, and Timberwolves. Even during the Celtics’ recent 5-0 homestand, there were some potholes.
“It’s not like we just flew through that home stretch right there,’’ Stevens said. “We only had one game that was probably decided before the very last minute.’’
Birth of a rivalry?
Last season the Celtics and Cavaliers played a physical and, at times, testy first-round playoff series. Although Cleveland won in a four-game sweep, it seemed much more competitive than that.
Entering Saturday night’s game — the last one between the teams during this regular season — they had split the series, 1-1. Boston’s win came when Avery Bradley hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent the Celtics to a 104-103 victory at Quicken Loans Arena on Feb. 5. So, could this be the start of an actual rivalry? Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue wasn’t quite ready to go that far.
“I just know they’re a good team,’’ Lue said. “I don’t know about rivals. I’m not sure about rivalries. But they’re a good team. It’s going to be a team we might see later on down the road. So I don’t know about rivalries.’’
Bradley’s buzzer-beater was perhaps the defining moment of the season thus far for the Celtics, as they charged back from a 4-point deficit with just 7.5 seconds left.
“To win that game, it really doesn’t change how good you are as a team,’’ Stevens said. “It just changes your mental outlook on life, right? So you just have to stay in that moment of, ‘OK, what can we do now to keep improving if it doesn’t go in?’ But that was a very fortunate deal. We were down four with nine seconds left, and you’re not going to find yourself on the good side of that very often.’’
Changing it up
When the Knicks needed a game-winning shot in the final seconds against the Celtics on Friday night, there was little doubt that the ball would end up in All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony’s hands.
And Anthony was ultimately swarmed by Marcus Smart before firing up a long 3-pointer that caromed off the backboard.
But 17 seconds earlier, the Celtics were the team that needed a go-ahead basket. Most often, the player likely to take the last shot is not predictable, making this team difficult to prepare for.
In this case, Bradley got the call. He took an inbounds pass from Evan Turner, and as Turner feigned a screen Bradley zipped to the basket for a difficult layup, sending Boston to a 105-104 win.
“I had a lane, and I just took it,’’ Bradley said Saturday. “I tried to go up as strong as I could, either to get fouled or finish the basket . . . With the amount of confidence the coaching staff gives everybody and freedom, everybody if given that opportunity has the confidence to want to go and make that play.’’
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.
