It does not have to make sense. We do not need to piece together the logical threads and evidence, find a line from expected narratives to current reality. It is November, just a month into what has already been a fascinating and bizarre NBA season. The Boston Celtics are the undisputed best team in the NBA at the moment, having secured their biggest victory of the season over the defending champion Golden State Warriors with a 92-88 decision Thursday night. 

It was a night where, despite early struggles, everything went Boston's way, whether by chance, by fate or by sheer force of will. To wit:

  • Stephen Curry was 3 of 14, and the NBA's plus-minus leader was a minus-14. 
  • The always rock-solid Andre Iguodala was a minus-18. 
  • Golden State shot just 11 of 32 from 3-point range. 
  • Boston shot just 32.9 percent from the field, eight percentage points worse than the Warriors ... and won. 
  • The Warriors had more points in the paint, more fast-break points, the same number of turnovers, more assists ... and lost. 

It was a weird one. It was a wild one. 

It was fittingly another Celtics victory, their 14th in a row. 

How did Boston accomplish this? How did it topple the Warriors, the latest team that everyone felt sure would end the streak? The Celtics did the hardest thing possible -- which is becoming the very core of Boston's M.O., always going the hard way. Boston took the Warriors out of their style of play, their rhythm and made them into a wholly different team. 

  • Golden State is the No.1 team in point differential in the third quarter. Boston outscored the Warriors by five, holding them to just 21 points in the third quarter. 
  • Golden State is fifth in pace this season at 105 possessions a game. They had 101 Thursday night, which would rank 13th. 
  • The Warriors shot 21 mid-range shots, making just six, when they average only 17. 

Boston dictated the pace to the Warriors, forced them into an ugly game, and did what it has done all year -- ride second-half momentum that teams have been helpless to stop, even Golden State. 

The Celtics won as they have all season, with defense. Semi Ojeleye cutting off Curry. Marcus Smart jumping the baseline on Iguodala, forcing him into the air, Ojeleye helping and Aron Baynes securing the ball:

All night long, the Celtics busted around screens, limiting and vexing the Warriors' off-ball movement. Terry Rozier fights over to contest on Curry, and the result is a Draymond Green set-shot mid-range shot. This is the opposite of Warriors basketball: 

So much of it for Boston is fundamental stuff, and that's all Brad Stevens. Watch how perfect the communication is on this switch here, even with it being a tough curl to defend. 

This is what Boston is. It's not about Kyrie Irving, or after-timeout plays, or ball movement. The Celtics' crunch time offense consisted of Irving driving and drawing fouls over and over. (The Celtics shot 19 more free throws than the Warriors.) They won with defense, with hustle and a little bit of luck, which, despite their energies, has been their formula all season. 

After the game, both teams were asked about a potential NBA Finals rematch, which is ridiculous. The Warriors are not the version they will be in the Finals, and no team is the same in November as it is in April. Six months of basketball changes every team, warps every team. Boston hit adversity with the Gordon Hayward injury, but since then, everything has fallen the Celtics' way, though they obviously deserve credit for forcing things into how they need them. 

The key takeaway from Thursday isn't about what this means for the Finals, or about how "for real" the Celtics are. We still can't say, even after 14 wins, that Boston is "for real" at this level, yet. What we do know is for real is their identity. The Celtics aren't lucky. They fight, every possession, no matter how much they're down, and they find a way to give themselves a chance, even against the mighty Warriors.

The Celtics this season are making their own luck.