Banner Town Breakdown: Celtics Get Revenge on Pistons
Credit: Chris Schwegler/ NBAE via Getty Images
The Celtics were able to avenge Friday’s embarrassing loss to the Detroit Pistons with a 122-120 victory on Sunday. Jaylen Brown continued his hot start to the season, scoring 31 points on 13-16 shooting. Jayson Tatum wasn’t half bad either, finishing with 24 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds, and a game winner.
Boston rolled out the controversial two big lineup once again, starting Marcus Smart, Brown, Tatum, Tristan Thompson, and Daniel Theis. Blake Griffin returned to the lineup on Sunday for the Pistons. They started with Killian Hayes, Josh Jackson, Jerami Grant, Griffin, and Mason Plumlee.
The Celtics looked much better offensively early on against the Pistons on Sunday. They managed to pour in 19 points prior to the first TV timeout, seven more than they scored in the entire first quarter on Friday. However, the defense just wasn’t there to start the game. Detroit got anything they wanted to start the game, shooting 10-12 from the field and scoring 22 points in that same window.
Brown was excellent in the first, he scored 12 of his 31 points in the first quarter alone. The Pistons remained hot for the rest of the first quarter, shooting 67% from the field. Their hot shooting helped them build a 33-31 lead over the C’s at the end of the first.
Both teams came out a bit flat to start the quarter but quickly found their footing. The Celtics were able to climb back on top 47-44 before the first timeout of the quarter at the 7 minute mark. Tatum stepped up for Boston, making two threes early and a few nice passes to Robert Williams. Williams made the most of his touches and was able to convert around the rim.
Brown came back into the game and picked up right where he left off in the first. By the end of the half, he already had 22 points. The Celtics were able to take a 61-57 lead into the half behind Brown’s big first half.
Detroit scored a quick five points to start the third quarter and it was looking like the third quarter Celtics were back at it. Fortunately, Boston responded with a 5-0 run of their own, with three of those five coming from Tatum’s fourth three of the game. About four minutes into the third, “the War on Theis” resumed as the officials whistled three back-to-back fouls on Theis. However, this didn’t discourage the German big-man as he drew a charge shortly after. He then came down and threw a nice lob to Thompson to put the C’s up 73-67.
After growing their lead to as many as eight points, the Celtics’ offense stalled a bit. They turned it over seven times in the third and allowed the Pistons to cut it to just three points heading into the fourth quarter.
Boston got things going early in the fourth thanks to back to back Semi Ojeleye threes. The shooting of Ojeleye has been a surprising improvement so far this season. He’s no longer a handicap on the offensive end and has shown that he can contribute on multiple occasions. Ojeleye knocked down another big three a few possessions later off of a Tatum double team.
Despite Ojeleye’s hot shooting, the Pistons were able to cut the lead to just one with six minutes to play. The two teams continued to battle back and forth for the next few minutes. The game was knotted at 113 apiece with about three and a half minutes to play. For the next minute and a half, they each traded stale offensive possessions before Smart made an excellent feed to a cutting Theis who made the layup while drawing a foul.
The C’s retained possession after a missed free throw from Theis, Smart then made a layup as he swept through the lane to put Boston up four. Detroit battled back into the game with a layup from Grant and then a free throw from Griffin on the following possession. With 49 seconds to go, the Pistons found themselves down one with the ball. Plumlee drew a foul on Theis and then drained both of the free throws to give his team the lead. After a quick timeout, Tatum found himself with the ball, drove to the basket and made a great pass to an open Brown who drilled a three to put Boston up 120-118 with 34 seconds to play.
On the subsequent possession, Grant drew a foul and buried both of his free throws to tie the game. Boston had the ball and the ability to take the final shot with just 22 seconds to play. The ball found its way to Tatum at the top of the key. He took two dribbles past Griffin and nailed an elbow jumper for the win.
Despite the win, things weren’t perfect for the Celtics. They still struggled defensively against Detroit. Jaylen Brown had this to say on the defensive struggles,
“We’ve got to do a better job at making them uncomfortable out there.”
Detroit finished the game shooting 48% from the field and 44% from deep.
The Celtics will be back in action Monday night against the Raptors at 7:30 PM EST.
