We could discuss the negatives if we wanted.

How the first three quarters portended the offensive struggles the Boston Celtics could potentially experience for however long Kyrie Irving remains sidelined. How it seems at least possible Irving has played his final game of the season. How if he does return in time for the playoffs, the Celtics will still be without Daniel Theis, Gordon Hayward and (at least for a series or two) Marcus Smart. How during the five straight games Irving has missed, the Celtics have scored 100.4 points per 100 possessions, which would rank them dead last over the entire season.

But maybe we should hold off on those concerns for another day. Maybe we should at least wait until Irving undergoes a "minimally invasive" left knee procedure Saturday and the Celtics provide an update on his recovery timeline. Maybe we should focus, at least for one night, on Marcus Morris' latest crunch-time conquest. Maybe we should admire how the Celtics, smashed by injuries, have stunned top-four Western Conference teams in successive outings.

Yes, let's do that. While Irving's status looms over the entire franchise, the Celtics have pieced together a pair of ridiculous comebacks. The latest, Friday night's 105-100 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers, came after Boston trailed by a dozen points during the final quarter.

The surge started with Shane Larkin and Jayson Tatum combining to hit five straight shots and ended with Al Horford tracking down a critical offensive rebound to seal the game. Seconds into the final minute, Morris, who finished with 30 points on 9-for-13 shooting, rocked into a pull-up 3-pointer from the left wing. Just two days after shocking the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-winning triple, the veteran had tucked another top opponent into bed.

Since Irving's latest bout with knee soreness, Morris has gone on a tear, averaging 21.6 points on 62.0-percent true shooting over the last five games. One of the biggest knocks against him has been a tendency to settle for tough midrange jumpers, but he has shifted some of those looks behind the 3-point arc, where he's knocking down 51.7 percent of his tries during this stretch. That's an unsustainable number, but with the Celtics needing all the buckets they can get, Morris has delivered in an expanded role. He was the offense for stretches against the Blazers, keeping the Celtics within range until some of his teammates proved ready to help him.

Larkin and Tatum owned the beginning of the fourth.

It's been neat to watch Larkin, out of the NBA last year, establish himself as a reliable option this season. With all of the injuries, he played a season-high 34 minutes against the Blazers, including 11 during the fourth quarter. The Celtics won't always need their third point guard in crunch time, but Larkin took control when they trailed by 12 with 11:30 left. Over the next minute, he found Tatum for a long jumper, drilled a 3-pointer (Boston's first of the second half), and nailed a floater to pull the Celtics within seven points. After briefly ceding the scoring conch to Tatum, Larkin yanked it back to add four more points, cutting the Boston deficit to one with 8:42 left. Two minutes later, Morris stepped into a triple, giving the Celtics their first lead since the first quarter.

Outside of Morris, Tatum has been the Celtics' most productive player lately. Over the last five games, the 20-year-old has averaged 17.2 points per game on 48.5-percent shooting, including 37.5-percent from behind the arc. More importantly, he has looked comfortable in a creator role during a number of pivotal moments. After going 0 for 5 from the field during the first three quarters Friday, Tatum poured in 10 points during the fourth, leading an offensive charge.

It was a remarkable shift considering how dead the Celtics offense looked over the first three quarters. They entered halftime with a dreadful 93.0 offensive rating, according to NBA.com, then proceeded to shoot 7 for 19 from the field during the third quarter. Maybe the best indicator of their broken-down offense: they shot just two 3-pointers during the quarter, including one from center Aron Baynes, who has gone five-plus NBA seasons without connecting from that range.

Without Irving and Marcus Smart, their two best pick-and-roll playmakers, the Celtics were leaning on an outdated style, trying to beat 3s with 2s. But there's nothing outdated about the defense the Celtics have played lately. Since Irving last suited up, they have surrendered 100.1 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. That's slightly better than their league-leading mark for the season, even with the menacing Smart watching games from the sidelines. Making that number more impressive, three of the five opponents during that span own top-10 offenses and the Blazers aren't far behind.

Throughout the season, the Celtics defense has been substantially stingier without Irving. That's not to suggest they're a better team without him. Of course they're not. They have no hope of advancing out of the Eastern Conference if he misses the playoffs. They just pivot to a different style when he's out. Their games turn more grimy. They're now 9-4 without him.

The Celtics are injured enough they should soon be able to acquire another player via the hardship exception. They are injured enough Morris, typically a sixth man, has become their primary scorer. They are injured enough that during crunch time against the Blazers, Stevens turned to a backcourt of Larkin and Terry Rozier -- normally the fourth and fifth guards. They are injured enough Stevens unleashed Guerschon Yabusele, typically a center, at the power forward position.

Yabusele showed real defensive potential, scored with a forceful Eurostep and drilled a 3-pointer, but the Celtics are clearly looking for answers at the bottom of the rotation. Stevens benched Semi Ojeleye for the first half then benched Abdel Nader after halftime. The two rookies have experienced some rough stretches of late, but the Celtics haven't had many other places to turn. They'll grow a bit healthier when Jaylen Brown returns, possibly as early as Sunday, but Stevens has been searching without him.

Boston is still 3-2 since losing Irving, Smart and Daniel Theis in the same game.

You could argue these games don't mean much. The Celtics are almost locked into the No. 2 seed already. Barring a disaster, that's where they will finish the regular season.

But, man, the Celtics have been resourceful as damaged bodies pile up around them.