When the Celtics lost against the Warriors on the road last December, it set off a rare losing stretch that exposed their flaws and showed how vulnerable they could be after a hot start to the season.

Under similar circumstances this season, history has not repeated itself.

Instead, the Celtics have responded with three consecutive convincing victories that have shown how far they have come, and help illustrate why they’re better suited to win a championship this season. After back-to-back dominant wins over the Kings and Clippers, the Celtics continued to display their growth in front of a national audience with an impressive 126-115 Christmas Day victory over the rival Lakers to finish a fantastic road trip.

Jayson Tatum (25 points) and Jaylen Brown (19 points) did not have big shooting nights in this win but as they’ve shown through the first third of the season, that’s not required for the Celtics to have success. Tatum had a season-high seven assists. Kristaps Porzingis returned from his absence to score 28 points, the offense hummed behind Derrick White (18 points, 11 assists) and Jrue Holiday (18 points, 7 assists), and the C’s used a strong defensive second half, overcoming 40 points from Anthony Davis, to pull away.

The C’s, after losing that overtime heartbreaker to Golden State to begin this trip, responded with three great wins to close out this West Coast trip. They now own an NBA-best 23-6 record as they return home with their schedule lightening up, with four of their next five games coming against below-.500 opponents.

The Celtics are now 15-1 this season with their starting five that includes Porzingis at full strength.