If the games themselves turn out to be a microchasm of the season in general, I'd say that there is reason for optimism.
We are closing out individual games impressively in the second half and fourth quarter.
Extend that to the second half and last quarter of the season.
This is something we could not do last year (close out games).
We have also proven we can put together a significant win streak, something we could not do last year.
We have shown an ability to keep attacking and not let weaker teams back into games, something we did not do last year.
We may have failed down the stretch in December last year, but to me this year is looking a great deal different than last year.