Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

The C’s, suddenly on a four-game winning streak, thus made up ground on everyone in the chase for the seventh and eighth playoffs seeds. They moved into a tie with ninth place Miami, within a half-game of eighth place Charlotte and a game outside of the seventh place Pacers.

They suddenly feel like they should pass all of these teams.

“Winning takes care of everything,” Brandon Bass said with an especially restive smile, thinking back two months to when the Celtics didn’t have much chance of winning these games.

“We went through our struggles early on, not being able to finish games, and it’s paid off for us,” he said. “I don’t mind these grind out games. Maybe it would be better at home if we could see Gino, but we’ll win whatever we can get.”

Boston Herald – Celtics gain ground

We brought some attention to the three game stretch the Celtics are currently in the midst of. With a mini road trip to OKC and San Antonio set for later this week, wins against the Magic, Pacers, and 76ers become extremely important in the quest of the 8th seed and the fact that the Celtics managed to scrape out a win last night may have been the most telling victory thus far. Beating Memphis was huge, but the Pacers really are/were the hottest team in the NBA prior to last night. Not only that, but Indy is playing with the same sense of urgency as Boston is. Being able to fly in on the 2nd night of a back-to-back, without your leading scorer and grind out a win against an equally desperate team further solidified (in my mind) the fact that this team is playoff worthy.

Fans outside of Boston may balk at the idea of a sub-.500 team making the playoffs, but it’s not fair to discredit any of the work this team is putting in. Not every team is lucky enough to win the lottery two years in a row and rebuild instantly. Not every team can offer a stadium within walking distance of beaches where the removal of bikini tops are an accepted tanning practice. Some teams require time for players to grow and for chemistry to manifest — and playing a full 82 games is how that’s done. Anyone can look at the Celtics’ record and say they don’t deserve a playoff spot and yes there are problems with how the conferences lend to unfair situations for teams when comparing the East and West. But the Celtics didn’t create that structure and they’re just controlling what they can — if they find themselves in the 8th seed by season’s end, nobody on that roster should pay an ounce of attention to anyone saying they don’t deserve it. They’re taking the full 82 games to improve as a team.

The Celtics play at home against Philly tomorrow and the Hornets visit Utah. By the time Better Call Saul ends, a team who traded its two best players could be in a position to control their own destiny.

Page 2: Mike Gorman chimes in

Time to start believing…..there is something special happening here !

— Mike Gorman (@celticsvoice) March 15, 2015

Now you know it’s real.

The rest of the links:

CSNNE – One on one with Brad Stevens: Focus on the little things

ESPN – Steve Kerr emails frustrated fans

Grantland – BS Report SXSW Special