A monster game for one of the most productive centers in basketball, Pistons icon Andre Drummond put up 26 points to go with a staggering 22 rebounds, something he is very accustomed to doing, in a 118-108 shootout against the host Celtics.
In a ceremony which will be cherished for one particular player tonight, the moment was surreal for former Celtics star guard Avery Bradley, returning to the Garden for the first time in his seven year tenure with Detroit as a visiting player. Bradley finished the night respectively with 13 points and 5 assists, scoring the first bucket for either team. The pick and roll system worked to Bradley’s advantage, giving Kyrie Irving and company a hard time on the offensive flow, forcing turnovers and crooked shots (contributing to Irving’s 6 total turnovers). Along side Bradley, stretch forward Tobias Harris led all scorers with 31 points, something he has felt more comfortable doing, to go with 8 rebounds. To note, Harris was a major threat behind the line, sniping 5 of 6 attempts from 3. At the point, former Boston College alum Reggie Jackson dropped a mere 20 on Boston to go with dishing out 7 assists, some were to the headache on the post Andre Drummond.
On the opposing end, the host Celtics could not keep up with the steady Pistons to conclude a back and forth shootout. Out of all players, guard Marcus Smart stepped up and delivered against the blue collar rivals, scoring 23 points off the bench, hitting 6 3’s and making one impressive spin move about halfway through the game to drive up for a lay in. The starting cast, which starts with Kyrie Irving, had a rough go against Bradley, scoring 18 points and dishing out 9 assists, but the field goal percentages were decimated. Irving went 6-16 from the field, Jaylen Brown was 4-10 while the others kept it relatively conservative. Following Irving for points, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Morris and Al Horford all scored in double digits (10,13,11) along with center Daniel Theis (12 pts 4-4 FG). A major flaw that hurt Boston was free throw shooting, getting numerous attempts behind the charity stripe and could not sink the shots. Finishing the day with only 12 free throws out of 21 attempts, it shows how close the game would have been with the makes, in this case potentially a OT game.
Next game for BOS- 11/30 vs Philly
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