Brad Stevens was asked about the home winning streak* Boston teams have been on recently after the Celtics ran their own home streak to a legitimate nine (Sorry, Bruins, but an overtime loss, even in a shootout, is still a loss) with a 108-95 win over the Denver Nuggets Friday night.
*For the record, it's the Celtics 9-0, the Patriots 5-0, the Bruins 12 wins with one OT loss and four shootout losses and even the Red Sox 1-0 since Boston dropped its second-to-last home game at Fenway Park on Sept. 28. So, technically, the REGULATION, regular-season, home winning streak stands.
There's also that little matter of home playoff losses for the C's and B's last spring. Those are as real as they come.
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Still, with all this winning going on lately, the Boston teams must like playing at home, but Stevens pointed out how the Celtics' recent run of success helps accomplish a goal his team set coming off a season filled with bickering that ended with a second-round playoff exit.
"We said all along with this group our No. 1 objective was to be a team that Boston liked," he said. "That's it. We'll, hopefully, be that."
Never losing in front of your paying customers goes a long way toward that goal.
Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Cavaliers, which tips off Monday at 7 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Tommy & Mike have the call at 7:30 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.