The Boston Celtics discovered yesterday that they will not be advancing in the Emirates NBA Cup, as their point differential in tournament play did not qualify them to progress. The season moves on, however, and on Wednesday night, the Celtics put their heads down and got back to work, facing the Detroit Pistons in Boston. Though the Pistons gave them more of a fight than they might have expected, they withstood Detroit’s scoring barrage and closed out the game to score a 130-120 win.
Jaylen Brown led the way this evening, scoring 28 points and dishing nine assists. Kristaps Porzingis added 26, and Sam Hauser — assuming a starting role with Jayson Tatum (knee) sidelined — had a huge night, scoring 20 points and cashing in on five threes. In all, six Celtics scoring in double figures.
For the Pistons, Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and dished 12 assists, while Tobias Harris added 27 points of his own. Malik Beasley had a massive night off of Detroit’s bench, scoring 23 and cashing in on six threes. Collectively, the Pistons couldn’t miss from three-point range, shooting 51% from deep and drilling 20 three-pointers on the evening.
Boston’s starting five — with Hauser starting and Al Horford in place of Jrue Holiday (also knee) — pummeled Detroit to open the game. They led the Pistons 26-7 at the midway point of the quarter, with each of the starters connecting on at least one three-pointer. Detroit’s offense did not acquit themselves poorly — they shot 45% from the field and hit four threes — but there just was no keeping up with the flamethrowing Boston offense. The Celtics shot 62% from the field and took a 15 point lead into the second quarter, 39-24.
In Tatum’s absence, it was Brown who set the tone for the Celtics. He filled Tatum’s customary role of the early frame scorer, piling up XX first half points to power the Celtics’ quick start. He did so predominantly moving downhill, with a dunk on Detroit center Isaiah Stewart, a drive-and-lob to Porzingis and a blazing Eurostep finish providing early highlights. Brown carved out a small place in Celtics’ history toinght: the first Celtic in team history to record 23 points, five assists and three steals in the first half of a game.
The game did not progress into blowout status, as an energetic effort from the Detroit bench unit largely matched the Celtics beat-for-beat in the early minutes of the second quarter. The Pistons found an offensive groove, adding six more three-pointers to their first-half total and trading buckets with Boston for long stretches of time. As defense fell by the wayside, the Celtics lost a point off their lead in the quarter, taking a 72-58 advantage into halftime.
Shotmaking continued to rule the night as play resumed after the break. Detroit’s three-point shooting ticked up, incredibly, over the 60% mark from the field as they slowly chipped their way through the Celtics’ lead, which fell to just 10 points as the teams passed the midway point of the third quarter. Boston clamped down effectively, however, restoring a mid-teens advantage behind some rare stops, including a steal by Pritchard that set up a corner three from Hauser. Luke Kornet added a highlight in the closing minute, recording a put-back layup off his second offensive board of the night, and the Celtics took a 15-point lead in the final quarter, 103-88.
Having allowed Detroit to hang around for much of the night, the Celtics needed to slam the door to open the fourth quarter. They started off on the right foot, recording a 6-1 run, but the plucky Pistons responded with a 12-0 run of their own to once again cut into the lead — this time, bringing themselves to a single-digit deficit for the first time since the game began. Led by undaunted shooting from Harris and Beasley, Detroit remarkably trailed by just six points with six minutes remaining in regulation — a 17-3 run, in all.
As he often does, Joe Mazzulla let his team play through the adversity, withholding his timeouts. The Celtics responded to their coach’s trust by breaking the run, with Brown splitting a pair of free throws and Porzingis converting a pair of looks at the rim to reestablish a 10-point lead. Porzingis revved up the crowd in the closing minutes of what looked like it would be a comfortable finish for Boston.
But wait! The Pistons had one more scare in them in the final minutes of regulation. As the Celtics seemed to ease off the gas, the Pistons kept shooting, trimming the Boston lead down to eight points and then — after a failed challenge by Mazzulla — five points with barely under a minute remaining in regulation. On the ensuing possession, however, Prichard finally closed the door. He cashed in on a three-pointer with 45 seconds to play, finally putting the brakes on the would-be Detroit upset.
Next up, the Celtics will find themselves on national television, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks on ESPN this Friday at 7:30 PM EST on ESPN.
