Gameday Preview: Celtics Look to Bounce Back Against Detroit
Creator: Carlos Osorio, Carlos Osorio | Credit: AP | Copyright: Copyright 2021 | The Associated Press. | All rights reserved.
The Boston Celtics tip-off against the Pistons once again tonight, just two days removed from losing a game that most people expected them to win with ease.
Boston dropped their first game of two back-to-back contests against Detroit on Friday night, losing by a score of 96-93. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum had solid games after both having slow starts, but it just wasn’t enough to secure the victory. While a major concern was the lack of scoring for the final four minutes or so of the game, the reason for the loss should be traced back to an inexcusable first quarter of basketball.
The Celtics scored only 12 points in the first quarter while allowing Detroit, who were winless prior to the game on Friday, to score 27. Jerami Grant was getting whatever he wanted all night long and it all started in that first quarter. Boston also had seven first-quarter turnovers, most of which were unforced. It seemed as though they had no energy and the Pistons looked like a team that actually came ready to play. Boston has struggled defensively all season long, as well as having many issues turning the ball over. Those are going to be a couple of main issues to key in on if they want a chance at splitting this mini-series 1-1.
The disappointing part is, aside from a solid first quarter, the Pistons didn’t look particularly good in the previous game either. They went from shooting 53.5% in the first half to 28.9% in the second half. If this were a better team the Celtics could have been blown out by 50, but the Pistons got shut down in the third and fourth quarters due to an inability to make shots. As mentioned, Grant was really solid for them, but so was Saddiq Bey. The rookie shot 5-8 from three and ended the game with 14 points for Detroit.
Aside from that, the Pistons killed it on the offensive glass in the final quarter. They finished the game with 13 offensive boards to the Celtics’ 7, but a whopping 8 of them came in the fourth for the Pistons. Mason Plumlee was a huge reason they dominated the glass, grabbing 17 of the Pistons’ 48 rebounds by himself. This is an important area for the Celtics to address, too, if they want to take down a very lengthy Detroit team.
Make sure to tune in to our live pregame show at 2:30 PM EST on the @GuyBostonSports Twitter account. We are live there 30 minutes before game time every game! The Celtics tip-off against the Pistons at 3:00 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
