The Red Sox had Thursday off, which gave me time to think about their current hot streak, a record I never thought I’d see them come close to breaking, and an All-Star snub. And with the Celtics enjoying a ducking good time at their championship parade on Friday, I’m pondering their repeat potential.

Here are 7 questions into the weekend:

1. Are the Red Sox for real?

The Red Sox enter Friday with five-game and three-series winning streaks, a plus-47 run differential, the most stolen bases in the American League, and MLB’s fifth-best record and best batting average and on-base percentages over the last month.

Yes, they’re really this good, and also no, they really aren’t.

That’s the beauty and frustration of a 162-game campaign: it’s something of an equalizer, akin to grading on a curve. By the end of a season as long as MLB’s, painful games might have dulled considerably, and the hottest hot streaks are often cool and distant memories.

This team is displaying some legitimate potential, and it’s not going unnoticed around the league.

2. Can the Red Sox break their single-month stolen-base record?

Led by David Hamilton (20) and Jarren Duran (19), who rank fifth and sixth in the Majors in stolen bases, the Red Sox entered Thursday atop the American League with a whopping 76 steals.

In June alone, Boston has stolen 32 bases (27 over their last 12 games). The last time a Red Sox team stole this many bases in a single month was July 1915, when they swiped 34. Can they break the club record of 49, set in July 1911?

The Reds, by the way, lead the Majors with 107 steals, and their wunderkind Elly De La Cruz already has 37 (11 more than any other Major Leaguer) so this should be quite a fast and furious weekend on the basepaths.

3. Is it finally time to put the “Kyrie sucks” chants to bed?

Before I wake up to an inbox filled with vitriol, this isn’t about defending Kyrie Irving. But perhaps, with the Celtics trouncing the Mavericks in the Finals, and once again setting a new NBA record for most championships – and with Irving putting up a meager 15 points in the deciding game – it’s time to stop beating a dead horse and focus on the positives?

The journey to Banner No. 18 was long and winding, and at times, Irving was a bump, even a roadblock. Before the Finals, Jrue Holiday told reporters the only way the Celtics would be able to guard him would be to “pray.”

But now, we know Irving was not an immovable object on the path to glory. And it was he who didn’t have a prayer for most of the Finals; his 4-for-6 performance from 3 in Game 3 aside, Parquet Enemy No. 1 shot 4-for-23 from 3 in the series and looked neither calm, nor cool, nor collected. Isn’t it time to let him fade into the rearview mirror, enjoy the present as reigning champs, and look forward to the future?

Ah, who am I kidding? If Harry Frazee found himself reincarnated today, there would probably be a line of Red Sox fans waiting to give him an expletive-laden earful for selling the Bambino to the Yankees.

4. Is it good the Red Sox are selling out home games?

Between the sold-out home opener – par for the course – and last weekend when the Yankees came to town for the first rivalry series of the year, Fenway Park didn’t see another sellout. (Except the Savannah Bananas.)

Plenty of fans, though, have decided not to give Red Sox principal owner John Henry another penny, and there’s more than one reason why they’re justified. However, the team itself certainly doesn’t deserve to be collateral damage. These players have been putting together good, even great ball games. The Fenway Faithful’s energy during the last homestand against the Phillies and Yankees was electric.

Don’t bite off your nose to spite your face. Especially when the face in question likely won’t be swayed regardless.

5. Why is Jarren Duran so low in All-Star voting?

No Red Sox position player has put together a more ironclad argument for the midsummer classic than Jarren Duran. Boston’s leadoff man entered Thursday ranked sixth in the American League in Wins Above Replacement (3.8) and offensive WAR (2.9), fifth in WAR for AL position players, 10th in defensive WAR (0.9), second in doubles (21), third in hits (86), fourth in stolen bases (19) and extra-base hits (37), fifth in runs created (55) and times on base (119), tied for fifth in total bases, seventh in Win Probability Added (2.1), and eighth in runs scored (50). He’s tied for second in games played, having started all of Boston’s 75 contests thus far; he’s the first Red Sox player to make this many starts to begin a season since Adrian Gonzalez’s 85 in 2011. He’s also leading MLB with 10 triples.

Then there’s his defense, which has been elite. Duran’s plus-6 Outs Above Average are tied for third among all Major League outfielders, and he’s one of four AL outfielders to post that mark or better. He’s one of six AL outfielders with a sprint speed of 29.3 ft/sec or faster.

Somehow, Duran isn’t even in the top 20 vote-getters for AL outfielders? Whether it’s apathy toward Red Sox ownership or a classic case of fans voting on favoritism rather than merit, it’s a mistake.

6. Can the Celtics repeat in 2025?

Unsurprisingly, the Celtics are already the clear favorites to repeat as champions next year. (Though perhaps it is surprising, given how many so-called experts picked the Mavericks this year.)

The Celtics are the undisputed blueprint of an NBA dynasty, victorious in 18 of their 23 trips to the Finals. The Red Auerbach/Bill Russell era racked up the first 11 championships between 1957-69, including every year between ‘59-66. John Havlicek’s and Dave Cowens’ Cs brought home the hardware again in ‘74 and ‘76, and Larry Bird led the Cs to another trio in ‘81, ‘84, and ‘86. Only 2008 truly stands alone.

The Celtics project to retain a nearly identical roster next season and could ink Jayson Tatum and Derrick White to new extensions, so on paper, they could make a repeat happen. They were the NBA’s best team by miles this year.

Sports, however, aren’t played on paper. The Celtics (and Mavs) played longer than any other team, losing well over a month of offseason. Several stars will partake in the Paris Olympics this summer. Injuries happen, and Kristaps Porzingis needs surgery. Regression happens, too.

And make no mistake: the rest of the league is champing at the bit to prevent the Cs from winning even more. After all, it took the Lakers until 2020 to tie Boston’s then-record 17 titles, and no other franchise has more than the Warriors, who’ve won seven of their 12 trips to the Finals.

7. And if not, which Boston team will be the next to win a championship?

Before Tom Brady departed for Tampa and Bill Belichick was given a most unceremonious boot, the Patriots would’ve been the obvious answer. (Of course, the same could be said of the Red Sox before they shipped Mookie Betts off to the Dodgers.) The Bruins have fallen flat in their latest playoff runs.

My gut is telling me that the Red Sox are on-deck. Ownership issues aside, the organization has some of the most promising young talent in the Majors and Minors, and at some point in the next few years, they’ll be going all the way again. The Sox also absolutely love proving everybody wrong. Count them out at your own risk.