Kyrie Irving explains how the Celtics managed to extend their win streak to 16 games and how they continue to believe in one another. (1:31)

The Boston Celtics' winning streak had recently reached double digits and, after a satisfying win over the Toronto Raptors, coach Brad Stevens was doing his best to downplay the growing hype around his team's run.

These Celtics, Stevens pleaded, were not sitting around talking about their accomplishments. Inside the Celtics locker room, that sentiment was relayed to third-year guard Terry Rozier, who pondered it for a moment.

"We don't talk about [the streak]," Rozier started, before a smile appeared and he slightly amended his statement. "When [Stevens is] not around we do."

The Celtics have now won 16 straight games, and the entire league is talking about Boston. Celtics players are well aware of the absurdity of the streak, particularly the way this team has routinely rallied from double-digit deficits.

Boston was supposed to sink from the top of the Eastern Conference after Gordon Hayward's season-ending ankle injury just minutes into last month's opener at the Cleveland Cavaliers. Instead, it has been more than a full calendar month since Boston lost a game, and the Celtics stand three wins shy of matching a franchise record for consecutive wins.

With a win on Wednesday night at the Miami Heat, the Celtics would match the third-longest winning streak in team history (17 games, 1959-60 season). While Stevens won't let his team look beyond Wednesday's contest, the only teams with longer streaks in Celtics history were the 1981-82 squad that won 18 straight and the 2008-09 team that took 19 in a row.

How exactly did these Celtics get here? Here are 16 nuggets from Boston's 16 wins:

1. The defense never rests: In a league where triple-digit scoring is en vogue (the NBA scoring average is north of 105 points per game, per ESPN Stats and Information data), the Celtics are winning with defense in holding teams to an absurdly low 94.8 points per game. Boston owns a league-best defensive rating of 95.8. For the sake of comparison, the San Antonio Spurs led the league last season with a defensive rating of 100.9. Boston traded away two of its best individual defenders in Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder, but it has thrived after replacing them with stretchy wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Early in the season, Boston guards would scour postgame box scores to see who was winning a steals competition while embracing the defensive end.

2. The offense starts slow: The Celtics are basketball procrastinators, only cranking up their offense when they have to. Boston has ranked in the bottom third of the NBA in offensive efficiency all season. The Celtics have a propensity to start painfully slow, as evidenced by an offensive rating of 95.2 in the first halves this season (only the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls, with a total of seven wins between them, have been worse). And yet Boston owns an offensive rating of 111.2 in the second halves of games, which is second only to the Golden State Warriors (119.7).

'C' is for comeback During their win streak, the Celtics have rallied back from a deficit of 15 points or more four times -- the most in the NBA this season. DATE OPPONENT DEFICIT RESULT Nov. 3 at OKC 18 W, 101-94 Nov. 10 vs. CHA 18 W, 90-87 Nov. 16 vs. GS 17 W, 92-88 Nov. 18 at ATL 16 W, 110-99

3. No deficit is too big: After the Celtics rallied from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to top the Dallas Mavericks in overtime on Monday, Stevens was asked about how his team has routinely rallied. "Because we're always behind," Stevens deadpanned. The Celtics have trailed by double digits in six of their 18 games, including each of their past three outings. What's more, Boston has trailed by at least 16 in five of those games and rallied to win all but the opener in Cleveland. The Celtics have trailed in the fourth quarter in half of their 16 wins. According to ESPN Stats and Information research, nobody else in the league has more than five wins in which they've trailed in the fourth quarter.

4. It all started when ... : Things looked particularly bleak when the 0-2 Celtics went to halftime trailing the Philadelphia 76ers in mid-October. It was then that Kyrie Irving directed a profane outburst -- one that cost him $25,000 -- to a fan who loudly inquired about the whereabouts of Irving's former teammate LeBron James. In a sign of how Boston would lean on its entire roster during this streak, it was emergency G-League call-up Jabari Bird who provided an unexpected spark in the second half against the 76ers.

ESPN Stats & Information

5. Most improbable win versus Hornets: Yes, the Celtics rallied from 18 down on the road to beat the Thunder in early November and would twice come back from 17 down to beat the Warriors. But in between those games, Boston found itself devoid of stars when Irving absorbed an inadvertent elbow from teammate Aron Baynes and suffered a facial fracture against visiting Charlotte. Boston already was playing without Hayward and Al Horford (concussion). Stevens was left with a 12-man roster featuring seven players who weren't in the NBA last season (six rookies and Shane Larkin, who played overseas). Somehow, Boston rallied from 18 down to keep its streak alive. If the league had decided to present Stevens with its Coach of the Year Award in the aftermath, few would have argued.

6. Hayward stays involved: Whether it's shooting from a chair at the team's practice facility or sitting behind the bench at last week's Warriors game, rehabbing Hayward has been around the team more lately. Even when he's not, Hayward has posted celebratory messages on Twitter after recent wins. Just when it seemed like even he was running out of words to describe Boston's victories, he dubbed Irving's play on Monday night "something special" and joked, "These close games are stressing me out."

7. On the rebound: The Celtics were one of the worst rebounding teams in the league last season, and while they didn't add much pure size this summer, part of the streak can be tied to improvements on the glass. Boston ranked 27th in both total rebound rate (48.5 percent) and defensive rebound rate (75.3 percent) last season. This year, the Celtics rank second in total rebound rate (53.2) and first in defensive rebound rate (82.0). Offseason additions Daniel Theis and Baynes have helped on the glass, while a versatile group of forwards -- Marcus Morris, Tatum, Brown -- and one springy guard in Rozier have aided the uptick.

8. Dressed for success: It might just be happenstance, but the Celtics were 36-12 (.750) last season when Stevens wore a tie. That trend seems to have continued this year, as the Celtics are now 11-1 when Stevens sports a tie. Boston also is 11-1 when they wear their green jerseys, which they've worn twice at home this year (against the Lakers and Warriors).