POST GAME DETROIT - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Boston Fights Off Pistons’ Late Rally In 91-81 Victory

NESN by Adam London on Sun, Dec 10, 2017 at 6:18PM

It wasn’t pretty, but the Boston Celtics experienced sweet revenge over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday afternoon. The Celtics suffered their fourth loss of the season at the hands of the Pistons on Nov. 27, but Boston made sure history didn’t repeat itself when the season series shifted to Little Caesars Arena. The C’s grabbed their first lead of the game less than four minutes into the game and never looked back in a 91-81 victory.

Boston’s offense wasn’t particularly strong in the first game of a back-to-back, but the team’s stars carried the load. Al Horford recorded a team-high 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and six assists, while Kyrie Irving wasn’t far behind with 16 points. Jaylen Brown (12 points), Marcus Smart (12 points) and Jayson Tatum (11 points) also scored in double figures for Boston. Detroit hung tough throughout the game, but a dreadful 32 percent shooting mark proved to be the difference. With the win, the Celtics improve to 23-5, while the Pistons fall to 14-12. Here’s hot it all went down:

STARTING FIVE PG: Isaiah Thomas SG: Jaylen Brown SF: Jayson Tatum PF: Al Horford C: Aron Baynes

HOT START FOR C’S STARS The Celtics jumped out to a 29-21 lead after one quarter of play thanks in large part to their star players. Horford paced all scorers with eight points in the frame on 4-of-4 shooting, while Irving wasn’t far behind with seven of his own, including a pair of 3-pointers. The Pistons, meanwhile, struggled on the offensive end early on. Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris notched Detroit’s first-quarter high with five points apiece, but the home club collectively shot an underwhelming 38 percent in the first 12 minutes.

SECOND-QUARTER STRUGGLES Neither team was particularly strong in the first quarter, but the second frame was even worse. The C’s and Pistons combined to score only 31 points in the second, with Boston taking a 44-37 lead into the break. The Celtics had a chance to get out to a comfortable lead with the Pistons struggling, but the green’s offense endured a pitiful seven-minute scoreless stretch in the second quarter. Irving (11 points) and Bradley (12 points) were the only players to score in double figures in the first half.

BACK AND FORTH The offense picked up in the third quarter, which ended in the Celtics taking a 73-59 advantage into the final frame. After being held to a very quiet first half, Brown came alive in the third with seven points in the quarter, while Irving chipped in five of his own. Detroit didn’t log its first points of the third until the 6:56 mark, but the Pistons finished the quarter strong thanks to eight points from Harris.

LUCK OF THE IRISH Boston typically has played its best basketball in the fourth quarter this season, but that certainly wasn’t the case Sunday night. Luckily for the C’s, the Pistons couldn’t fully capitalize on the opportunity. The Celtics endured another seven-minute scoreless stretch, while allowed Detroit to go on a 12-0 run and get within four. Brown snapped the rut with a layup at the 3:29 mark, and Horford nailed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to push the Celtics’ lead back to seven. The Pistons kept the pressure on until the final whistle, but the Celtics never wavered and held on for the win.

PLAY OF THE GAME Terry Rozier beats the third-quarter buzzer.

UP NEXT The C’s play the second game of a back-to-back Monday night in Chicago against the Bulls. Tip-off from United Center is set for 8 p.m. ET.
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Baynes' play key for Celtics in 91-81 victory over Pistons

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely December 10, 2017 6:27 PM

Aron Baynes was a game-time decision after taking a blow to the stomach against San Antonio on Friday.

He played on Sunday afternoon, and delivered one of his best games of the season which was indeed a kick in the stomach to Detroit whose fourth-quarter comeback efforts came up short in Boston’s 91-81 victory.

Baynes didn't score much (six points), but his defense and rebounding (13 rebounds) would prove pivotal in Boston's win.

Boston (23-5) got off to a slow start but spent most of the game playing with a lead. Al Horford led the Celtics with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists while Kyrie Irving chipped in with 16 points. Tobias Harris led all scorers with 19 points.

But Detroit, among the best comeback teams in the NBA, didn’t go down quietly.

Detroit (14-12), which has now lost six straight, were on the comeback trail with a 12-0 run in the fourth that coincided with the Celtics missing 12 straight shots.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens had seen enough when he called a time-out with 4:19 to play and Boston clinging to a 79-75 lead.

Jaylen Brown ended the shot-making slump for Boston with a driving basket to the lane, only for Andre Drummond to get a tip-in – his first points of the game – cut into Boston’s lead.

As Detroit fought back, the Celtics continued to make all the necessary plays which included a 3-pointer by Al Horford and a driving lay-up by Marcus Smart, the latter putting Boston ahead 89-80.

While they were getting it done down the stretch, the player of the game for Boston was easily Aron Baynes.

A game-time decision after taking a blow to the stomach at San Antonio on Friday, Baynes had six points and a season-high 13 rebounds in addition to doing an impressive job in limiting Drummond all game.

Drummond, who had 26 points and 22 rebounds against Boston on Nov. 27, was held to just six points and 15 rebounds.

Detroit opened the game with a 10-4 run, looking to pick up where they left off when the two met on Nov. 27 and the Pistons handed Boston a 118-108 defeat, Boston’s worst loss of the season.

However, the Celtics bounced back with a 11-0 run of their own and continued to play with a lead that slowly but surely, steadily expanded.

Leading 44-37 at the half, Boston scored the first five points of the third – a tip-in by Baynes, a Brown lay-up and a technical free throw by Kyrie Irving after Drummond was whistled for a technical with 10:23 to play in the third.

Boston would spend most of the third quarter milking a double-digit lead, with the quarter ending with the Celtics ahead 73-59 as Terry Rozier drained a 3-pointer that just beat the third quarter horn sounding off.

112288

112288,

Isaiah Thomas is a typo.


KJ

KJ

No I checked it and that is how he spells it.

112288

Boston did exactly what they needed to do to beat Detroit.  Baynes played 27 minutes and was a force on defense.  

Harris did not go nuts and Jackson was ineffective.

Dboss

112288 wrote:KJ

No I checked it and that is how he spells it.

112288

I think he meant. Thomas isn’t our starting PG now.

beat

I did not write the article, so it is what it is.

112288

112288 wrote:KJ

No I checked it and that is how he spells it.

112288

He is right.

The Pistons are feisty but lack firepower. Horford didn't get hurt. The C's won despite weakness at point guard.

Irving 3 assists 2 turnovers
Smart 3 assists 5 turnovers
Larkin 1 assist  1 turnover
Rozier 2 assists 0 turnovers

Chicago is up next. They should be a lot easier. Two tough games have been split. The C's keep winning off of losses. The big story had to be Baynes shutting down Drummond.

Tatum and Brown were clutch. The two young guys willed the win this time.

Theis always seems to be in the right spot.

I don't like when there are three guards on the court not counting Jaylen.

I hope Morris isn't damaged goods. Speaking of which or not, Isaiah will be back soon. Houston keeps winning and now has a better win pct. than the Celtics.

Kyrie just had a weird off night and Smart was pitiful for offense. Larkin had nothing this time. That's actually a very good win in light of that and no injury for Horford, I think.

The Celtics can't play much worse than that for offense. Horford was clutch for most of the game. I don't think Tatum's threes are hitting the rim. They go smooth and it's swish.

He went 3-5.

He is shooting 52% at 3's, 84% free throws. Danny hit the jackpot.

Game ball for Baynes!

What a difference when he's defending against bruising centers. Al just doesn't have the body for it.

Berlin-T

So if Smart hits one more shot he’s 5-10, agreed he usually runs the offense better. Good to see Al come back with productive game. If Baynes can keep this up, we may not be that desperate for another center this year. Houston, GS, Cavs all don’t have monster centers, those kind of teams are made to order for us. Spurs when Kawhi gets going with Gay, Gasol, Aldridge could be a problem, long term we will need a defensive board eater with size at some point. If we had Hayward we would have so much sick offensive firepower, but it’s coming....

I couldn't find a good link to the game so watched my fave Xmas movie (the original Miracle on 34th Street,) while watching the box score.

I said previously that this would be an important test of this team's resolve. Looks like they passed the test warts and all.

Some of us have been calling for more Baynes. Thanx Brad for listening. As great a coach as you are, you will only become better by following this forum.

Does anyone have an idea why Brad doesn't like Theis as much as we do?

I'm not a big stat fan. But I love the way the C's follow a loss with a win. How many of us have started to up the projected win total? Will they end up closer to 60 or 70 wins?
I'm staying with the 60 wins I projected before the season began. Just looked for that thread but can't find it.

This team is different from the other Brad teams so far. This team is better. This team has more talent. This is not your classic over achieving Brad coached team. Yet even with more talent, this team still plays very hard and can never be counted out of a game. This team is legit.This team is a title contender this year.

From my view, Coach Stevens plays both the match ups and the hot hand (offensively and defensively).

He starts Baynes when the matchup makes sense (against Drumond, Embid, Adams) and his minutes depend on the flow of the game. If a team spaces the floor and gets hot, Baynes is a liability - so his minutes are dependant on situation and in game reactions.

Same with Theis. There are lots of things Daniel does well - guarding on the perimeter isnt one of them. He got spun around a number of times last night by Ish Smith, so while he does a lot of things well - his minutes are fluid and vary by who is on the floor and their strengths etc.

To me, Coach Stevens has a lot of Coach Pop in him, where he does not have a set time to bring players back in or a set amount of minutes to play them. If there are 8 minutes left in the game and Rozier and Larkin are doing well, he will not automatically bring Kyrie back in. He will wait until he sees a lull in execution and then bring him back. Minutes on this team are situational, and not based on status.

I am going to call this one a signature win.

Winning games on the road are tough and that task is even tougher when the opponent is starving for a win.  Detroit was riding high two weeks ago and went into Boston and hammered the Celtics 118-108.

Now they look like a middle of the road team.

When you lose to a team only the really good teams have the capacity to return the favor.  In some respects this win is another indication that Boston is a really good team.

The importance of having a big man down low was on full display.  I think this elevates Baynes to another level on this team.  With Morris sitting out another game tonight, Baynes may start and matchup with the Android Twin.

dboss