BOSTON _ Avery Bradley's homecoming received top billing going into Monday night.
But it was Andre Drummond who demanded the top of the marquee.
The center was a dominant force with 26 points, 22 rebounds, six assists and four steals to lead the Detroit Pistons to a solid 118-108 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
Tobias Harris scored 31 points on 11-for-16 shooting and Reggie Jackson was efficient with 20 points and seven assists to make Bradley a winner his first time going against the team that drafted him in 2010.
But it was Drummond who capped off the huge victory for the Pistons (13-6) with a pair of three-point plays in the closing minutes.
Bradley struggled offensively, going 5-for-14 from the field to score 13 points.
But he hounded Celtics star Kyrie Irving into a 6-for-16 shooting night. He finished with 18 points.
Marcus Smart scored 23 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range to lead the Celtics (18-4).
Bradley was the last Piston announced during pregame introductions and he was greeted with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes.
As the crowd cheered, the Jumbotron above the floor had a simple message: "Welcome back, Avery."
Before the rule change last season to cut down on the intentionally fouling of poor free throw shooters, Celtics coach Brad Stevens was one of more consistent tacticians to use the ploy.
It doesn't happen as much now, but Stevens had his team use it against Drummond just past the midway mark of the fourth quarter.
Drummond split two free throws to tie the game at 100.
It was the first time facing former teammates Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes.
Morris starts for the Celtics, and Baynes entered the game early in the first quarter to try to control a dominant Drummond.
Morris finished with 13 points; Baynes finished with six points and six rebounds.
It was easy to tell in the first quarter that Drummond was ready to play.
He consumed practically every shot the Celtics missed in the first quarter.
The Celtics missed 13 shots; Drummond finished the first quarter with 10 rebounds.
