If you thought the Celtics would have an easy time going against a winless Pistons team without their best player (Blake Griffin/concussion), you were wrong. Dead wrong.
The Celtics played sluggish and sloppy for most of the first half and dug themselves a 21-point hole. Predictably, Boston tightened up the defense in the 3rd quarter and rode Jaylen Brown (25 points) and Jayson Tatum (28 points) to a 5-point lead with 4 minutes remaining. Ball game, right? There’s no way this Pistons team could hang with Boston’s double-barrel closers, right?
Wrong. I encourage you to review the highlights, but be warned you’ll probably need a tetanus shot by the end.
look at that pass 💪 pic.twitter.com/Ib3fMZKK9i
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 2, 2021
The Celtics are on pace to finish with 48 turnovers in this game, which feels low.
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) January 2, 2021
#Celtics play a terrible 1Q, trail #Pistons 27-12. Thompson 3.
BOS 5-for-19 FG, 8 turnovers— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) January 2, 2021
Impressive chasedown block by Daniel Theis pic.twitter.com/S5Rd3i7ktg
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) January 2, 2021
😱 JERAMI GRANT, HOW DO YOU DO?? 😱 pic.twitter.com/ONnIaA8aJt
— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2021
Halftime: Boston 40, Detroit 55 pic.twitter.com/R8rO8eat56
— Celtics Stats (@celtics_stats) January 2, 2021
And then, we were treated to an all-time bad call. A call the refs had a chance to correct, but stuck to their guns.
They even reviewed this after Brad Steven’s Challenged and LOST 😂 NBA refs bro… pic.twitter.com/XznUviGHGJ
— Shake4ndbake (@ItsShake4ndbake) January 2, 2021
That's as bad a call as I've seen in a while
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) January 2, 2021
hangtime 😤 pic.twitter.com/ToV1NoyvBE
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 2, 2021
#Celtics trail #Pistons 79-73 after 3Q. Tatum 21, Brown 18, Smart 13; Grant 20, Bey 16, Rose 15.
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) January 2, 2021
We pause the recap for this important message:
Scal is funny about 20 percent of the time he thinks he is.
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) January 2, 2021
RWilliams twisted his ankle in a scrum but is standing on the bench and appears OK. #Celtics #Pistons
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) January 2, 2021
Jaylen Brown rattled off 7 straight points (3-pointer, mid-range jumper and lay-up) to give the Celtics their first lead in a long, long time.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 2, 2021
Another triple by Tatum stretched the Celtics lead to 5 (93-88) and they appeared to have stolen this monstrosity of a game. I’m now going to show you all of their buckets over the final four minutes.
…
…
…
…
…
…
The Celtics failed to score again. Yup, 0-11 for the field over the final 4:15 against the mighty Pistons. Detroit wins, 96-93.
Brad Stevens on C's drought to end the game: "That may have been the basketball gods saying we didn't deserve the game."
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) January 2, 2021
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
