When Gordon Hayward went down with a season-ending leg injury on Opening Night, Boston's immediate future looked bleak. Without their versatile All-Star, not many could fathom BOS staying competitive amongst the league's elite.

Fast forward a few weeks later: BOS has the league's best record (14-2), just dispatched the defending champs (92-88) despite shooting just 33% and falling into a 17-pt. hole. 

The scene was set for their first loss in 14 games - Brad Stevens's crew fell behind 28-18 after 1 and had trouble getting easy looks v. GSW's D. Down 17 w/ 5:25 left in the first half, they kept chipping away (Jaylen Brown & Al Horford led the charge) and found themselves down just 5 at the break.

A tight game down the stretch, BOS capitalized on its FT opportunities to close it out.

Statement victory? 

To put things in perspective, Kyrie Irving shot just 4/16 and BOS went 7/32 from downtown. But on the flip side, the C's held Steph Curry to 9 (3/14 shooting) & Klay Thompson to 13 (5/18 shooting). 

It's early but BOS's streak is a big boost for their young core in particular - J. Brown & J. Tatum's growth is accelerated, both of them are accepting the responsibility to perform at a high level each night. 

It's not about how long the streak will last - the question is if it's elite play is sustainable.

Judging by yesterday's W, it looks like BOS is here to stay & compete for it all.