If you don’t play hard in the NBA, there isn’t a team in it that can’t beat you, and the Boston Celtics learned that lesson the hard way Friday night, dropping an easily-winnable road game to the previously winless Detroit Pistons 96 – 93.
The Celtics came out flat and disorganized early. To make matters worse, they had a poor shooting night as well, complicating their comeback throughout the third and fourth quarters. Despite taking a five-point lead in the fourth quarter, an over-reliance on jumpers — open or not — ultimately sunk the team’s chances as a hungry Pistons squad earned their first win at Boston’s expense.
“I thought we had a lot of open looks down the stretch, but we couldn’t get anything to go down,” shared coach Brad Stevens after the game, noting Detroit was hard working, and difficult to score on.
Forward Jayson Tatum led all Celtics with 28 points, 6 rebounds and as many assists, wing Jaylen Brown put up 25 points, 9 boards and 3 steals, and guard Marcus Smart added 13 points and 9 assists in the loss.
The Celtics will have a quick shot at revenge with the new series format instituted to reduce pandemic travel, facing off with the Pistons on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021 at 3pm ET.
