The day after their elimination from the “NBA Cup”, Celtics And Pistons continue with the objective of quickly putting this failure aside.
Mission accomplished for Bostonyet without Jayson Tatum or Jrue Holiday, but with Jaylen Brown (28 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) and Kristaps Porzingis (26 points, 9 rebounds) to take over this team of Detroit who was able to rely on Cade Cunningham (27 points, 14 assists, 9 rebounds) and Tobias Harris (27 points).
Constantly in the lead in this part, the Celtics got off to a thunderous start (39-24), aligning 3-point successes in the wake of Derrick White and emphasizing the aggressiveness towards the circle of Jaylen Brown, while feeding off numerous enemy stray balls.
The gap quickly climbs to around +20 and the Pistons begin to stop the bleeding and more or less match the champions when Cade Cunningham, Tobias Harris or Jaden Ivey start shooting and respond to Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis et al (72-58).
The Boston collective is in great shape and it is now Sam Hauser's turn to stand out in the shoot, offering himself a nice duel with Tobias Harris who is not to be outdone either. Like this face-to-face, the two teams continue not to let go of each other and the gap is stabilized at around fifteen points, even if there is better in Detroit.
The champions then got a little scare when they saw Cade Cunningham and Malik Beasley bring their team back under ten points, but Payton Pritchard and Kristaps Porzingis kept watch and, too, they made the baskets they needed to kill the match , from far and near (130-120).
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– Rain of 3-pointers in Massachusetts. Between the Celtics' 21 field goals (at 40%) and the Pistons' 20 field goals (at 51%), we can say that it was a fast-paced game behind the line. It was these outside shots that helped Boston build its lead in the first quarter, with a successful 18-4 in just four minutes, then allowed Detroit to somewhat reignite the suspense in the final act. , with a successful 17-3 in less than three minutes. At the finish, the champion held his place but the young people from Michigan have no reason to be ashamed of their performance.
– Boston has room. Even without Jayson Tatum or Jrue Holiday, both injured in the knee, the Celtics have margin over a lot of teams because Joe Mazzulla can count on his group to respond collectively. Thus, if Sam Hauser finishes at 20 points as a starter and Al Horford brings 14 points for his return to the five, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis assume their role as attack leaders when Payton Pritchard (19 points) remains valuable with his energy coming off the bench. A great collective effort therefore, which led to an 18th victory in 22 matches this season.
– Fine coming for Jaylen Brown. Top scorer for the Celtics in this game, the MVP of the 2024 Finals also “distinguished” himself with a throat-cutting sign, after his big successful dunk on the nose of Isaiah Stewart to conclude this fantastic first quarter for the reigning champions . The NBA is obviously not going to like it and we can already expect a nice fine for the Boston player.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
