NEW YORK -- After the Boston Celtics claimed their season-best eighth straight victory Saturday night, defeating the New York Knicks 116-102 at Madison Square Garden, Boston now has an eight-game cushion over the second-place Cleveland Cavaliers atop the Eastern Conference.
That is a bigger gap than the one between the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves and the eighth-place Phoenix Suns (7 games). But rather than applauding their league-leading performance through the first two-thirds of the season, the Celtics instead claimed they have higher levels to reach.
"It's just the way kind of the season has gone," Celtics center Al Horford said.