JT-Less Celtics Chug on by the Detroit Pistons
The Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons 130-120 tonight, in the second night of Boston’s 4 game homestand this week. The Pistons came into this game on the second night of a back to back, after getting blown out in Detroit by the Bucks to get eliminated from NBA Cup contention. The Celtics were also knocked out of Cup contention on Tuesday due to the Magic not winning/the Knicks not winning by enough. So, in lieu of that, the Celtics will host a game against the Pistons a week from Thursday, and then travel to Washington for a game against the Wizards. The Celtics came into this matchup without Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday, both out with knee injuries. And Ausar Thompson was out of tonight’s contest due to injury management. But the Celtics got some key pieces back after missing them in the Miami game. Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, who were both out for Injury management, and Sam Hauser returned after being out of Monday’s contest due to personal reasons.
The story of this game was how will the Celtics survive without Jayson Tatum. The Celtics have a plus/minus of over 200 with JT on the court, and without him, that number goes all the way down to 2. That is the quality of player the Celtics were lacking. As well, as a world class defender in Jrue Holiday. But one many knew this, and made sure to get the Celtics out to an early lead: Jaylen Brown. JB had 23 points in the first half, as well as 5 assists and 3 steals. This is the first time since James Harden in 2014 that a statline like this has been put up in a single half of basketball. JB showcased that not only he is one of the best players on the Celtics, but also one of the best players in the world. JT is the one to always get the love in terms of how great a playmaker they are, but JB is a very good one to say the least. While their were times he would try and force a pass into a tight window, and it would either get tipped or knocked away, it is that kind of vision and effort that I can appreciate from JB. He finished the game with a 28 point, 6 rebound, and 9 assists on the night. Kristaps Porzingis had the best night of his season thus far scoring 26 points, with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. He has helped the Celtics so much, not only in the Non-JT offensive minutes, but on the defensive side as well. With someone of his stature and length and his mobility as well, it really does strike a grave amount of fear into the opponents and causes a large disruption in the interior. He had a great moment with the crowd where he got fouled, and instead of turning and going to the line, he went into the crowd, and put his arms up, and the Garden erupted.
KP getting the crowd hyped after the foul call
The remaining support of the Celtics helped provide a balance for the C’s that we have seen all year. Al Horford provided 14 points, with some great on and off ball defense with his fresh, rested legs. Derrick White scored 14 points, but more importantly, was dishing the ball all around the floor, as he finished this contest with 11 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks with 0 turnovers. And then the mighty trio of Tres Leches. The trio of Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard really catapulted the C’s into the win column in this one. Kornet, continuing his trend from last game brought strong, and imposing defense, getting 2 blocks and 2 steals. He also scored 9 points of his own and grabbed 8 rebounds. Pritchard got off to a slow start, but picked it up in the 4th, making some HUGE 3’s and putting the game out of reach for the Pistons. Pritch scored 19 points, with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. But the scoring outbreak came from Sam Hauser! Hauser dropped a season high 20 points on over 50% shooting from the field and from deep. These 3 players are vital to the teams success. They are not the stars that the JT, the JB, KP, Jrue and Dwhites of the world are. But if the C’s want to win another championship, they are going to be relying on these 3 to help get them there.
For the Pistons, there was no quit in this team. J.B. Bickerstaff called two timeouts early after the Pistons found themselves in a pretty substantial double digit hole to begin the game. But from about 8 minutes in the first quarter and till the final buzzer, the Pistons kept the game rather close. There were 3 key pieces for that reasoning: Cade Cunningham, Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris. Cade was doing a bit of everything tonight. He was the player that if the Pistons needed a bucket, the ball was in his hands. He finished the night with 27 points, 14 assists and 9 rebounds. Malik Beasley really caught fire in the 4th quarter. The Celtics had what was once a 20 point lead, and because of some stifling defense, and Beasley’s hot shooting, they cut that lead eventually all the way down to 5. He had 23 points on 55% from 3. And for Tobias Harris, he provided balanced scoring from all 3 levels. He finished the game with 27 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The Pistons really didn’t quit on this game, and even made it close until the end. The Pistons have the potential to really be a surprise team moving forward, and can play spoiler against some very good teams. JB Bickerstaff has this team ready to go, and will be a force within the next couple of years.
The Celtics next matchup is friday at home against the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Pistons next matchup is on Saturday against the Knicks in New York.
