Banner Town Breakdown: First Half Struggles Come Back to Bite the Celtics in Loss
Photo by Maddie Meyer | Getty Images
The Celtics took on the Pistons tonight who had yet to win a game this season. Boston was coming off a dominant win against the Grizzlies where Jaylen Brown set a career-high in points with 42. Meanwhile, the Pistons have been led by newly signed forward Jerami Grant.
Following the game against Memphis, the Celtics were looking to remain hot. Without Kemba Walker to start the season, every win they can get now will just make his transition back into playing that much easier. These games were pegged as two “gimme” games for the Celtics, but with that in mind it was also no time to ease up on the gas.
The first quarter was riddled with the exact thing Boston should have been looking to avoid - turnovers. The Celtics looked as if they were playing with zero energy and their ability to maintain control of the ball was horrible. They finished the first with 8 turnovers and only 12 points. Meanwhile, the Pistons were able to drive through a lackluster Boston defense with ease, scoring a majority of their 27 points in the paint. It was about as bad of a start as the C’s have had all season.
Boston’s struggles continued into the second as they just couldn’t get anything to fall. Svi Mykhailiuk was killing them from deep on one end and on the other they were completely unable to generate any offense of their own. Brown and Jayson Tatum couldn’t find a real rhythm on offense which left Marcus Smart and Jeff Teague to handle a majority of the scoring. Jerami Grant, on the other hand, was having his way with Boston’s defense. He was able to attack the rim whenever he wanted and find success.
Defensively, the Celtics looked atrocious in the first half. Grant was able to put up 18 points in the first half alone, with Saddiq Bey and Josh Jackson also putting up 14 apiece. To make matters even worse, the C’s offense was almost as bad as their defense. Brown, Smart, and Teague led all Boston scorers with eight each, but the entire flow of the offense was in complete disarray. This lack of scoring along with 10 first-half turnovers led to a 40-55 deficit at the half. If the C’s wanted any chance at a comeback they were going to have to pick up their defensive intensity, find a groove on offense, and take much better care of the basketball.
Luckily for the sanity of Boston fans everywhere, Brown opened up the third quarter on a roll. He was driving aggressively to the basket and the Celtics were even making some solid plays on the defensive end. Before long they had cut the lead down to single digits, but it hovered around the 9-12 point deficit for a long time. It almost seemed as though everyone aside from Brown and Smart didn’t care as much, and the high turnover numbers made a reappearance in the third, too.
By the end of the third Tatum had finally woken up. He was on a roll on the offensive end and the C’s were definitely more engaged defensively. The one thorn in their side, however, continued to be Bey who was lighting it up from deep, tallying four threes in the third quarter alone. Regardless of that, and the questionable offensive foul call on Brown, the C’s were able to cut it down to a six-point deficit with serious help from Brown, Tatum, and Smart.
The fourth quarter was an absolute whirlwind. Tatum and Brown looked phenomenal, propelling the Celtics to a lead at most points, but the Pistons just wouldn’t go away. They were seemingly dominating the offensive glass, but luckily for Boston was unable to hit a lot of their second chance shots. Both teams went through a huge drought for a large period near the end of the quarter, too, as the Celtics were apparently determined to solely take three-pointers. As one could guess, this “threes only” strategy didn’t work too well for the Celtics.
The Celtics found themselves down by one with just under 26 seconds left and had to foul. At that point, Boston hadn’t made a field goal since there was 4:15 left in the fourth. The home run shots were absolutely killing them, but Bey did go 1-2 at the line, so they were only down two with roughly 25 seconds of game time left.
The final possession of the game ended with solid looks for both Tatum and Smart - Tatum with an open corner three and Smart with a decent look near the basket. Unfortunately, neither fell for Boston and they were forced to send Mason Plumlee to the line. Luckily enough, Plumlee only made one of his two free throws, meaning there was some hope for the C’s still. Brown got a good look at a three to tie, but it just didn’t go down. They managed to get some solid looks at the end of the game, but it was just one of those nights where nothing was falling.
Outside of Tatum, Brown, and Smart, no one really got anything going on the offensive end. The Celtics played absolutely terribly in the first half on both ends and it was what did them in. They just couldn’t recover from such a terrible performance early on, and in the end, the field goal drought to end the game spelled disaster for Boston.
Brown finished with 25 pts, 9 reb, 2 ast, and 3 stl, while Tatum ended with 28 pts, 6 reb, and 2 ast. Smart also contributed with 13 pts, and 9 ast along with all he provided on the defensive end, and Teague’s 12 pts off the bench were helpful, too. As for Detroit, they were led by Grant, who had 24 pts and 4 reb. Bey put up 17 pts and 7 reb, Rose had 17 pts, 5 reb, and 4 ast off the bench, and Plumlee killed Boston on the glass, finishing with 8 pts and 17 reb.
The Pistons managed to hold on and won the game, with the final score being 96-93. The Celtics turnover and defensive issues continued in this one and were the main reasons they went down in the first place. If they want any chance at being a contender this season, those problems have to be addressed immediately. Boston will get a chance at revenge when they take on the Pistons again on Sunday, January 3rd at 3:00 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
