The Celtics came out of the gate in blazing fashion tonight. Layups, jumpers & treys all fell at a dizzying rate. Well..dizzying for this squad anyway. Behind a combined 27 points from Sully, Green & Bass, Boston opened up a 32-29 lead against the Pistons after one quarter. Defense was definitely not the theme tonight in Detroit, as the Celtics shot 60% in the 1st and the Pistons were not far behind at 52%.
Boston continued to cruise in quarter #2. Two Brandon Bass free-throws had Boston up by fourteen, 52-38 with 5:50 to go in the first half. Detroit started to find Monroe & Drummond in the paint late in the quarter, but the Celtics continued to shoot the lights out, and were up 65-55 at the half. Boston shot 55% from the field and a smoking 67% from downtown in the first half.
Detroit came out of the locker room for the second half looking like they were in a hurry to get to the club. The Pistons looked completely disinterested & discombobulated, and Boston continued to bury three balls. The Celts opened up the 3rd quarter by burying four more treys (Sully 2, Bayless & Pressey) to take a 79-60 lead with 8:43 left in the stanza. If not for Detroit’s size advantage, this game could have been out of reach for the Pistons by the end of the third. But behind more muscle from Greg Monroe and a Brandon Jennings trey, Detroit managed to whittle the lead down to ten points, and it was 95-85 Celts heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter opened with Boston committing four turnovers and missing the threes that had been falling earlier. Detroit sniffed a chance to get back in the game, and that they did. The Pistons went on a 12-2 run and a Jonas Jerebko three-pointer gave the Pistons a 100-99 lead with 7:12 left in the game. And then, the C’s went ice cold. After a Bayless, what else, three-pointer made it 109-107 Boston with about 4 minutes to go, the C’s ran out of steam. Phil Pressey’s tip in with 2:51 left would be Boston’s final field goal as the Pistons finished the game on an 8-0 run. 115-111 is your final tonight in Detroit.
After lighting it up for three quarters, Boston scored just 16 points on 7 of 23 shooting in the last quarter. Their torrid shooting from downtown also fell off, as the green went 1 of 8 in the final frame. Rodney Stuckey took the game over, scoring 10 of his game-high 26 in the fourth. Greg Monroe finished with 21 and Andre Drummond beasted with a double-double of 19 points & 20 rebounds. I’ve got no beef with Stevens and like what’s he done so far, but with Humphries out and Detroit huge up front, why play Joel Anthony just 2 minutes…?
*cough..tanking…cough*
The C’s now have three days off before facing the Hawks in ATL on Wednesday. Tip-off is at 7:30pm. The Celts have now lost 8 straight, and are just one game behind Orlando, who won (YES!) tonight, in the loss column for third worst record in the league. Head over to Tankathon for the details. This is absolutely awful to watch, but these losses are a key part of Boston getting the tools they need to rebuild this team. So make it a double Celtics fans, and hang in there-this dismal season is almost over…
The Green:
- Jerryd Bayless led Boston with 25 points, including burying 5 of his 6 threes. I know Bayless has been inconsistent at times, but man-when he is on, he’s capable of putting up a lot of points in a hurry
- Boston’s trio of Green, Bass & Sullinger combined for 63 points and 24 boards
- Starting in place of Rondo, Phil Pressey was extremely aggressive and had a solid night: 12 points, 11 assists, 2 steals & just 1 turnover in 36 minutes
The Gross:
- As mentioned above, Boston managed just 16 points in the fourth as they shot 30% from the field, and just 13% from downtown
- C’s were out scored 50-32 in the paint
The Greenlights:
Phil Pressey’s 12 & 11:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFP2nkA_bik
The Grid: (quick stats)
- Rebounds: Pistons 43 Celtics 37
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