DETROIT — Watching the Pistons lose leads is becoming a thing, and not in a good way.
Coach Dwane Casey lamented the lapses that the Pistons have had early this season, leading in all four games in the fourth quarter, but letting those leads slip away late.
This time, it was early in the fourth quarter.
The Pistons got off to a hot early start, shooting 53% from the field in the first half and leading by as many as 21, only to see it fade away, yet again.
This time, they got a different result, bouncing back for a 96-93 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Jerami Grant had 24 points, Saddiq Bey 17 points and six rebounds and Derrick Rose 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Unlike the previous blown leads, the Pistons had the gusto late, scoring the last eight points of the game, including four from Grant.
The Pistons led, 55-40, at halftime and the Celtics trimmed the margin to 79-73 entering the fourth quarter with a flurry from Jayson Tatum (28 points), who scored 10 straight points for Boston near the end of the third.
Bey ended the run with a 3-pointer but the Celtics (3-3) kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown (25 points) scored the first seven points of the quarter for Boston, for an 80-78 lead, but Isaiah Stewart split a pair of free throws and then finished a three-point play to regain the advantage.
The Celtics went on a 13-5 run, with a pair of 3-pointers from Tatum, to take their biggest lead to that point, 93-88, at the 4:15 mark.
It was deja vu all over again for the Pistons, letting another lead get away — but not completely this time.
They regrouped, with a drive by Grant, who later added two free throws, to get within one. Rose finished at the rim on a coast-to-coast drive to regain the lead, 94-93, with 1:20 left and the Pistons got a defensive stop.
On the next possession, Bey made one of two free throws, for a two-point lead with 25.3 seconds left and the Celtics getting the final possession. Plumlee held Marcus Smart to a tough shot and after he was fouled. Plumlee made one of two free throws.
Brown missed a potential tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.
