Kyrie Irving: Team Meeting Behind Celtics' Recent Hot Streak

After making it to within one game of the 2018 NBA Finals despite having a depleted roster, the Boston Celtics got off to a relatively slow start this season even with a healthy Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.

But a team meeting last month may have helped save their season.

Irving revealed Wednesday that the team got together and cleared the air following a 120-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks back on Dec. 21, per ESPN.com's Tim Bontemps:

"We could pinpoint a lot of turning points. We just want to build that chemistry first. Just getting with one another, really put everything out there and then move on from that point.

"At that point, playing against Milwaukee, we weren't at rock bottom, but we needed to address some s--- in this locker room. It's just good to get stuff out in the air. As grown men and guys that have expectations for themselves, it was good to hear guys talk about what they wanted for themselves and what they wanted for this team."

The loss to the Bucks marked the Celtics' third consecutive defeat—a losing streak that included a game against the then-7-24 Phoenix Suns—and dropped them to 18-13 on the year. At that point, they looked far different from the team that played in the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago.

Then the team meeting happened.

Boston has gone 7-2 since that turning point, with their only losses coming on the road at the hands of the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs. The recent hot streak has helped the Celtics (25-15) stay among the top teams in the East, as they currently sit 4.5 games back of the top spot.

Irving played in three consecutive Finals as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and won a championship during his time playing alongside LeBron James. As a result, he knows what it takes to be the last team standing.

For Irving, it was important for the Celtics to establish the right culture before it was too late, per Bontemps:

"Hopefully, you'll see those same smiles when we're in a tight game. You want to see that. You want to see that translate into situations where we're in a tight game and we all still feel good. No one goes their own ways, and that's how you build a team, and that's how you build a championship culture.

"Just feeling good with one another and on the bench, we're up and want everybody to do well. Those guys work just as hard as we do, and we all want to see each other do well."

So far, so good.

Boston extended its current winning streak to four games with a 135-108 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. It was a total team effort, with seven different players reaching double figures, that helped the Celtics establish a new season high in points.

While the Celtics are certainly enjoying their success, there is still plenty of work to be done if they want to achieve their ultimate goal. Boston will find out a lot about itself in the coming weeks, as it will go up against the likes of the Toronto Raptors, the Golden State Warriors, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers over the course of the next month.