By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer

The week has ended on a positive note for both the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.

Not only did the two struggling teams produce wins, but they won in a big fashion. The Celtics put up 122 points and beat the Pacers by 19 while the Bruins bested the Philadelphia Flyers, on the road, 5-1.

Don’t let the big wins get you too excited however. These teams have been too up-and-down lately. They both need to string a few performances like this consecutively before they can become legitimate championship contenders again.

Currently the Celtics sit comfortably in the third spot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings, and they should comfortably win their division which would guarantee a top four seed and home-court advantage in the first round.

However, the lack of competition within the division has not benefitted the Celtics. Rather it has allowed them to become complacent and lethargic, and they have played down to their competition, such as when they lost to the league-worst New Jersey Nets two weeks ago.

The team cannot continue to play at the same current pace. There is no way they can compete with Cleveland, Orlando, or Atlanta come playoff time. They could even find themselves in trouble in the first round if they were to be caught too off guard.

The Celtics need to find that drive, that hunger that they had in their championship run two years ago. They have the chance to redeem themselves with a nice balanced, but favorable, schedule.

The team plays 10 home games to nine games on the road. Seven of those games come against teams that would not be in the playoffs if the season ended today. They also will be challenged though by two games with Cleveland and with contests against Western Conference contenders Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

If the Celts can regularly beat the teams they are supposed to beat and at least play with some heart and keep it close against their top competitors—unlike the 20-point beat-down they suffered to the Cavaliers at the end of February—then there is some potential left for them going into the playoffs.

The Bruins, meanwhile, are in the process of picking up the pieces after losing 10 straight games and 14 out of 16.

Even with their terrible slide they still have managed to stay in the eighth and final playoff spot with 72 points and a three-point cushion. Every game is crucial for the B’s.

They need to take advantage of their schedule. Seven of their final 16 games come against teams lower in the standings than them, four of which are at home.

The Bruins will face a pivotal stretch where in five days they will play three games, two of which are against the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both teams are breathing down the Bruins necks in the playoffs and currently sit three and four points behind Boston respectively.

Those two games are at home. The third game in that stretch is at Atlanta, who conveniently also isn’t too far off from Boston with 66 points.

The Bruins absolutely need to steal as many points from those games as they can. Without ties and sharing points, anything other than a win will allow those teams to creep closer to stealing Boston’s hold on the final playoff spot.

The B’s and C’s are talented and could contend for a championship in their respective sports. They showed how good they were with dominating wins. However, those kinds of wins have been few and far between for both teams lately and they need to string together a few more of them before the city should get too excited for the playoffs.

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