Tough Stretch Ahead - Boston Celtics November Schedule

The Celtics have one more chance to warm up against a non-contender before taking on one heavy hitter after another. That isn't to say that they can look beyond the Pistons (see Cavs, Cleveland). But as a blogger/fan I reserve the right to look ahead at what's coming on the schedule.

The team will return from Detroit to play the Bucks the next night in Boston. The Bucks are the prototypical "team you don't want to face in the first round of the playoffs" type teams. They have taken on the scrappy personality of their coach and they upgraded their talent this offseason.

The Friday night special is the Chicago Bulls. Granted, they don't have Boozer right now, but Derrick Rose is going to be looking to prove he's in the same class as Player of the Week Rondo.

The comes everybody's favorite up-and-coming Thunder. I'm quietly pondering adopting this team as my Western Conference team to pull for in the 5 minutes a day that I have open on my calendar. Durant might be the MVP this year and Westbrook is yet another of the new-breed point guards that want that ring that Rondo has.

Then the next day (yup, another back to back) the team heads to Dallas to play the always-deep-always-talented Mavs. Oh, and did I mention that this is the 2nd game of a 4 game road trip?

Of course, after the team has been run through that gauntlet of teams, they once again get to play the Miami Heat - who, you can imagine, will be looking for revenge now that they've had a few games to play together and get used to each other.

I'm tired just writing all that. One thing is for sure. We'll know a lot more about this team by mid November.

After that, things get quite a bit easier (on paper). I suppose some of the young teams like Memphis and Washington could surprise the Celtics with athleticism and fresh legs, but hopefully the C's can take care of business.

The Thunder (again) and the Hawks should be interesting matchups, but beyond that we're looking at the Raps (twice), Nets, and Cavs (time for a little payback perhaps?).

Of course things never quite turn out like you would think. If I had told you that we'd be 2-1 in October, you would have probably guessed that the loss would have been to the Heat and not the Cavs. But as "they" say, that's why toss the ball up and let them play.

How do you think this month will go? How many wins do you predict?