The Celtics looked like a team on the second night of a back-to-back as the third quarter proved to be the difference at TD Garden. Friday night saw Boston continue to struggle with a Detroit Pistons team that outlasted the tired Celtics (13-12) for a 108-102 win.
Detroit (7-19) continued their enigmatic start to the year, which has seen a number of terrible losses mixed in with wins over the NBA’s cream of the crop. The Pistons have now beaten the Celtics in two out of their three meetings this year, and have wins over the likes of the Lakers, Nets, and 76ers.
Coming off of an impressive 120-106 win on Thursday night over Toronto, Boston was ripe for a classic NBA letdown game. Rookie sharpshooter Saddiq Bey made sure that’s exactly how the night went.
The Villanova product splashed home a career-high 30 points to go along with 7 made threes. It was all Bey all the time, including in crunch time when he nailed a dagger three to give Detroit a 101-95 lead with 38 seconds left. The Pistons nearly doubled up Boston from distance as Detroit finished with 15 three-point makes compared to just 8 for the home team.
Saddiq Bey scored a career-high 30 points off the bench in the Pistons win over the Celtics.
Bey became the first rookie in NBA history to make at least 7 3-pt FG in a game without a miss. pic.twitter.com/GsDMyyR8GM
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 13, 2021
It was a third quarter where Boston couldn’t find their offense that ended up being the difference. The Celtics scored just 20 points in the period, as Detroit won the quarter by 8 and took a ten point lead into the final frame.
While Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 60 of Boston’s 102, the Celtics couldn’t get the necessary stops down the stretch to close the gap.
The Celtics have a chance to right the ship against the last place team in the east in Washington with a Sunday road matinee.
