The Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons 123-99. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard caught fire from beyond the arc, propelling the Celtics to a big win. Pritchard had 27 points and White had 23. Ron Holland II led the Pistons with 26 points, followed by Cade Cunningham with 16. The Celtics played without Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser, while the Pistons missed Jalen Duren. The Boston Celtics improved to 20-5 with the win and the Pistons dropped to 10-16.
A Slow Start
The Celtics and Pistons got off to slow shooting starts, shooting a combined 4-of-20 from the field. When the shots finally began to fall, it was still a back-and-forth game. It was a low-scoring first quarter, with no team building a significant lead. The player who stepped up at this time was Luke Kornet. He had an and-one and layup that sparked a 7-0 run. Then, he caught an alley-oop from Payton Pritchard to the delight of the Boston crowd. Kornet led the Celtics with 8 points The Boston Celtics were up by double digits at the end of the first quarter, leading 27-16.
The Pistons tried to cut into the lead in the second quarter. A couple of Pritchard threes put the Celtics back up by double digits, but Detroit went on a 6-0 run, shooting 5-of-6 to start the quarter. With Tatum out and Brown on the bench, Boston struggled to generate offense. The Pistons trimmed the deficit to four multiple times, but a 10-0 Celtics run capped off with a Jrue Holiday three put them back behind. The Celtics extended their lead with a few buckets from Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White. At halftime, the Boston Celtics led 59-44.
Pritchard led the Celtics with 14 first-half points, shooting 4-of-9 from three. White and Porzingis scored 11 points apiece. Jaylen Brown only had 4 points in the half, with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. For the Pistons, Cade Cunningham led the way with 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Despite the slow start, Boston had built a comfortable lead. However, their previous games against the Pistons this season have all had similar starts. The Boston Celtics had built leads, only for Detroit to come back and make things tight down the stretch. That did not happen this time.
The Boston Celtics Pull Ahead
In the third quarter, Brown finally began to roll. He made a three-pointer and got an and-one off an alley-oop to help the Celtics push their lead to 20. Brown scored 10 points in the quarter. Boston was heating up, as Brown, White, Porzingis, and Holiday all made three-pointers. Still, the Pistons were also hot, and the lead hovered around 20. That lasted until the Boston Celtics went on a run to close the quarter. At the end of the third, the Boston Celtics led 93-68.
The Boston Celtics continued to roll in the fourth quarter. Pritchard and White buried more threes and the Celtics maintained their lead. By the end of the game, White and Pritchard had made seven three-pointers apiece. Cunningham and Ron Holland II were the only consistent scoring options for Detroit, and they could not keep up with the Boston onslaught. The Celtics extended their lead to 30 and put in their bench unit, all but sealing the victory. This gave players like Drew Peterson, Jordan Walsh, and JD Davison a chance to shine. The Boston Celtics won 123-99, getting their 20th win of the season.
Final Thoughts
The Boston Celtics improved to 20-5 with the win. Payton Pritchard scored 27 points off the bench, shooting 7-of-15 from three with 10 assists. Derrick White had 23 points, shooting 7-of-12 from three. Porzingis scored 19, Brown had 14, and Holiday had 12. The Detroit Pistons dropped to 10-16 with the loss. Ron Holland II scored 26 points off the bench on 11-of-14 shooting, while Cade Cunningham had 18 points. This was the third time the Pistons have lost to the Boston Celtics this season.
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