Banner Town Breakdown: Saddiq Bey Torches the C’s in Pistons Win
Raj Mehta | USA Today Sports
The Celtics took on the Pistons in this one, who despite being a league-worst 6-19 going into the game, always manage to play very well against good teams. That trend continued tonight, as Detroit’s physical play was able to lead them to a 108-102 win over Boston. The C’s weren’t able to keep up on either end, and the amazing ball movement they displayed against Toronto just didn’t show up. That along with some spectacular three-point shooting for the Pistons was enough to add up to a Celtics loss.
Point guard Kemba Walker was out for this game. He’ll be sitting out on the second day of back-to-backs all season long as he continues to nurse his knee injury. He joined Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, and Romeo Langford, who remained listed as out from the game against Toronto. As for Detroit, they were without Killian Hayes, Jahlil Okafor, Mason Plumlee, and Sekou Doumbouya in this one.
The Celtics got out to a hot start. They were staying aggressive and driving to the rim, while also hitting the open shooters on the perimeter. However, a switch flipped in the second quarter where the Celtics stopped moving the ball and made isolation their main offensive focus. Whether it was Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, there just seemed to be a lot of dribbling going on, and not enough passing. The offense completely stalled and it seemed as though they were working a lot harder than they should have to for every bucket.
The lack of ball movement wasn’t completely the fault of Tatum and Brown, however. Both finished with solid numbers, and Tatum even had seven to go along with his 33 points and 11 rebounds. Brown finished with 27 points and 6 rebounds, as well. The whole team just seemed to be focused on letting them do their thing, and ball movement fell to the wayside.
Detroit, on the other hand, was picking apart Boston’s defense. The Celtics switch on almost everything on the defensive end, and the Pistons’ shooters were taking full advantage of that. Saddiq Bey in particular, who finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, was automatic from behind the three-point line (7/7 3PT). Delon Wright was a real issue as well. He ended with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, and was penetrating the Celtics defense with ease. Detroit was getting to the rim, hitting their threes, and playing an extremely physical brand of basketball that made life very hard for the Celtics.
To make matters worse, the C’s weren’t converting on a lot of shots that usually fall for them. Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis were both having tough days shooting the ball, which isn’t a commonality for them. Thompson’s hook shots weren’t falling, and Theis had his first “cold” day shooting the ball in seemingly forever. In a game where the Celtics were getting out-muscled on both ends, it was just a bad day to miss some of the easy ones.
Even with their continuous struggles, the Celtics almost managed to mount a comeback in the fourth on the backs of Tatum and Brown. There were times where the C’s reverted back to the “home run three-ball” style of play, but when that ultimately failed things got back on track to some degree. Both were trying to get back to the mindset from the beginning of the game where they would drive aggressively to the rim for either an easy bucket or free throws.
In the end, however, Bey’s hot shooting night helped finish off the Celtics, who were unable to complete the comeback. The Pistons held on to win by a score of 108-102 off the back of some incredible three-point shooting and super aggressive team play. The Celtics’ lack of ball movement throughout the game resulted in too many offensive lulls, and the defense was a step slow on a few too many rotations. Back to the drawing board for Boston, who will take on the Washington Wizards on Sunday, February 14th at 1:00 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
