The shorthanded Celtics saw their six-game winning streak come to a crashing halt on Wednesday night as the Detroit Pistons dominated the second half on their way to an 117-97 blowout win. It was the eighth straight win for the Pistons who now have the longest winning streak in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Boston was playing shorthanded without Jaylen Brown (thigh) and Luke Kornet (personal reasons) and looked sluggish early coming off a back-to-back in Toronto. Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Jrue Holiday were back in the lineup but the visitors trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half. Boston erased that deficit by halftime thanks to a flurry of hot 3-point shooting (11 makes in second quarter) before intermission).
The Pistons quickly regained control in the third quarter though pushing their lead to double digits midway through the frame and never looking back from there. Boston trailed by double digits the entire fourth quarter, leading to Joe Mazzulla to pulling his starters with five minutes left in the game and Boston trailing by 18 points.
Malik Beasley led the Pistons with 26 points off the bench while Cade Cunningham added a double-double with 21 points and 11 assists. Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 27 points but Boston’s offense struggled for mucho the night, shooting 41 percent from the field and tallying 19 turnovers.
The Celtics will have a day off to regroup before hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden on Friday night in a clash of the two best teams in the East.
Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ loss on Wednesday night:
Celtics erupt from 3-point range in second quarter but can’t sustain it: The Celtics were not doing a lot of things right in this game but they still found themselves tied at halftime thanks to a sensational shooting second quarter from beyond the arc. Boston scored 33 of their 35 second quarter points from beyond the arc, knocking down 11-of-16 attempts from 3-point range led by Derrick White (4-of-5) and Payton Pritchard (3-of-4). The outburst helped the visitors erase an early double-digit deficit but ultimately was not enough to cover up for Boston’s other shortcomings on the night.
Pistons dominate the paint: Boston saved their top bigs for Wednesday’s matchup but it did not help when it came to containing the Pistons bulk on the interior. Detroit entered the game averaging 51.4 points in the paint but they easily topped that mark in this contest with 62 points on a steady diet of pick-and-roll involving Cade Cunningham. Jalen Duran and Isaiah Stewart also feasted on the offensive glass against Boston’s bigs while the Celtics found no easy offense on the inside all night mustering just 20 points in the paint.
Celtics constant miscues lead to easy Pistons offense: Boston’s decision making wasn’t at its best on the second half of a back-to-back but it was evident that the Pistons athleticism and ball pressure was forcing the Celtics into miscues all night long. The Celtics coughed up 16 turnovers including 10 Pistons steals and that led to 29 fast break points for the hosts. Detroit is one of the best transition teams in the NBA and the Celtics opened the door wide open for them all night to get out and run, producing plenty of easy offense.
The Pistons look like they are a legitimate East playoff team: Detroit is in the midst of one of the more impressive season-to-season turnarounds in NBA history, having already improved their win total from last year by 19 games with 23 games still left to play. The Pistons find themselves in a tie for the No. 5 seed in the East after their eight straight win on Wednesday night and look like a threat to actually win a first round series in the East against some underachieving East teams in the middle of the playoff pack. The good news for Boston is that they are playing so well, they don’t look like a threat to be in the play-in tournament, which should leave Boston with a much softer first round opponent assuming they remain a No. 2 seed.
