Post Game - Celtics vs. Pistons - Thursday, December 28 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585049

From another perspective:

Pistons surrender 19-point halftime lead, fall in overtime to Celtics

https://www.detroitbadboys.com/2023/12/28/24018373/detroit-pistons-final-score-cade-cunningham-kristaps-porzingis

Pistons had no answer for Kristaps Porzingis’ size and perimeter shooting

By Sean Corp  Dec 28, 2023, 10:27pm EST  2 Comments / 1 New




The Detroit PIstons delivered one of their best efforts of the season, but a brutal third quarter saw them cough up every bit of its 19-point halftime lead, and the Pistons dropped their 28th straight. In the end, the Celtics won 125-119 in overtime.

Cade Cunningham was sparkling early, but he was clearly gassed by midway through the third quarter. He scored 31 points, but only nine came after the first half. Five of those came in what amounted to garbage time during the OT period.

The Pistons played with pace, space, and hit some timely 3s in the first half. They were also able to capitalize on Boston turnovers and cold shooting from the NBA’s best team as it amassed a season-high 21-point lead in the second quarter.

They gave it all away within the first eight minutes of the third quarter. Kristaps Porzingis was abusing smaller players on switches in the post and knocking down wide-open 3s against drop coverage against Detroit’s bigs. He finished with a game-high 35 points and eight rebounds.

The Pistons didn’t give up the fight and fought hard in the fourth quarter to retake and even build on their previous lead. They had a 100-96 lead with 4:41 remaining in regulation, but the Celtics were able to lean on their veterans and the Pistons, simply, could not.

Boston could easily hunt Jaden Ivey by coercing a switch onto Porzingis on the block. Jaden tried to body him up, but Kristaps easily hit the post shot and got the and-one.

An Alec Burks missed 3 then turned into an easy Porzingis 13-footer. The Pistons’ next shots, all misses, were a Burks 3-pointer, an off-balance Burks 3-pointer, a missed Bojan Bogdanovic 3 on a good look, a Cade shot that was blocked, and then a missed Bogdanovic 15-footer on the baseline.

In that time, the Celtics were able to build a 6-point lead after a Tatum layup and Porzingis 3 sent Boston to a six-point lead with just under 2 minutes left.

Ivey scored six straight to tie the game at 106, and the Celtics put the ball in Jayson Tatum’s hands with 9 seconds remaining. Jayson Tatum ISO’d against Cunningham, and Cade played terrific defense. Tatum drove and tried to get Cunningham off balance. He was able to coax a shot toward the rim that Cade blocked, but the officials called a goaltend, saying the ball hit the backboard first. Detroit challenged the call and after a long replay review, the call stood.

The Pistons were able to force overtime after Bogdanovic rebounded and put back in a missed Cade three.

Overtime, though, was nearly all Celtics. Ivey was able to score five more in OT, but fouled out. The Pistons defense had no answer for anything Boston was creating. Kristaps was hitting open jumpers or Boston’s guards were able to bully and cut their way to the rim.

Cade was mostly invisible because he clearly had no juice left in the tank. Sadly, the Pistons needed Cade to grnd out one more amazing period in order to snatch the win away and end this interminable losing streak. He couldn’t do it. Not again.

So the Pistons lost. Again. For the 28th straight game.

The Pistons get to try again at home vs. Toronto for the final game of 2023. Good riddance

_______________________________________________________

Pistons push Celtics to overtime, but tie NBA record for 28 straight overall losses

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2023/12/28/pistons-push-celtics-to-overtime-but-tie-nba-record-for-28-straight-overall-losses/72047930007/


Mike Curtis
The Detroit News




Boston — Two nights after setting the record for the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history, the lowly-Pistons descended upon Beantown for their greatest challenge of the season.

It was their first nationally televised game of the season after the previous two were removed from NBA TV, and with the entire country watching, Detroit's young roster squandered a first-half, 19-point lead but showed enough resilience in the fourth quarter to force a veteran Boston Celtics team into a crucial overtime period.

When the Pistons needed them most, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jaden Ivey delivered several shots in the clutch to keep their team's hopes alive, but the Celtics made the plays that ultimately mattered in the final two minutes of the game to beat the Pistons, 128-122, on Thursday night.

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday baited Jaden Ivey into a sixth and disqualifying foul with 2:13 left in overtime. It was a 3-point play, which was followed by a heartbreaking 3-pointer by Boston guard Derrick White, which resulted in roars from the fans inside TD Garden. Those cheers grew louder as Kristaps Porzingis threw down a two-handed dunk in transition to give the Celtics a comfortable six-point lead and enough breathing room to end Detroit's night with another loss.

Thursday's loss was the 28th straight defeat for Detroit, which tied the record for the NBA's longest overall losing streak — originally set over two seasons by the Philadelphia 76ers between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

After a shockingly impressive first-half performance that gave the Pistons a 19-point halftime advantage, Detroit blew its comfortable lead with turnovers and poor shooting to allow the Celtics to tie the game going into the fourth quarter. What should've been an opportunity to capture the first win in exactly two months quickly turned into a battle for survival as the Pistons found themselves down by one point with three minutes left.

Timely baskets by Porzingis, who scored 27 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, helped Boston overcome the Pistons.

The loss didn't come without a bit of drama in the final moments of the fourth quarter. Ivey scored six straight points to tie the game at 106, but Jayson Tatum received the benefit of a goaltending violation as Cade Cunningham blocked his layup off the glass. Pistons coach Monty Williams challenged the call but it was unsuccessful, giving the Celtics a two-point lead with eight seconds remaining.

With one final shot to tie or take the lead, the Pistons chose to inbound the ball to Cunningham, who took an off-balance 3-pointer and missed, but Bogdanovic was there to lay the ball in off the putback. With a tie game with 4.6 left, Jayson Tatum had an opportunity to win the game at the buzzer but missed a turnaround midrange shot.

Cunningham, who scored a team-high 31 points, was magnificent in the first 12 minutes of the game, but struggled to find that same rhythm for the rest of the game.


The Pistons entered the game as 17-point underdogs and losers of 27 consecutive games, but none of that mattered once the ball was tipped. Cunningham picked up where he left off from Tuesday's 41-point outburst against the Brooklyn Nets and aggressively attacked Boston's interior defense.

The sea of Celtics fans inside TD Garden let out a fierce set of boo's as the halftime buzzer rang as their team trailed by 19 points at the break. It was a result of the Pistons' efficient first half, led by Cunningham, who produced a magnificent 22-point first half.

Boston (23-6), the Pistons' greatest challenge of the season, was without Jaylen Brown due to a low back contusion, but Jayson Tatum was available after being listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain suffered on Christmas Day. Boston attempted 24 three-pointers in the first half and only made four of them, which helped the Pistons build their double-digit lead.

The Celtics adjusted their strategy at halftime and attacked Detroit's thin frontcourt, which was without Isaiah Stewart due to a big toe injury. Boston produced a 15-6 run in the first four minutes of the period to cut Detroit's lead to just 10. Tatum

Cunningham has traditionally had success against the Celtics. He scored 20 or more points in three of four career games against Boston with averages of 19 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. The only time Cunningham didn't score double digits was his last time playing at TD Garden on Nov. 9, 2022, which was the final game of his sophomore season before he was shut down due to shin surgery.

Celtics-Pistons takeaways: Detroit loses 28th straight in wild fashion

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-pistons-takeaways-detroit-loses-040418129.html

Justin Leger
Thu, December 28, 2023 at 11:04 PM EST·5 min read




Celtics-Pistons takeaways: Detroit loses 28th straight in wild fashion originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

An unexpected thriller
Porzingis and White fuel the comeback
Rebounding woes nearly cost C's

The Boston Celtics narrowly avoided an embarrassing loss to the lowly Detroit Pistons on Thursday night at TD Garden.

Detroit entered with a 27-game losing streak, the longest single-season skid in NBA history. That streak was nearly snapped as it took a shocking 19-point lead over Boston into the half -- the largest lead against the C's this season. Boston erased that deficit with a dominant third quarter (35-16) but the Pistons fought hard in the fourth to force overtime.

Despite a valiant effort, Detroit couldn't keep up in the OT period and lost its 28th consecutive game, 128-122. The Celtics improved to 15-0 at home this year and extended their win streak at TD Garden to 22 games dating back to last season.

With Jaylen Brown (low back contusion) out, Kristaps Porzingis and Jayson Tatum paced the Celtics with 35 and 31 points, respectively. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 31 points (22 in the first half).

On Friday, the Celtics will host the Toronto Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back. Before we turn the page to that matchup, here are three takeaways from Thursday night's wild win.

An unexpected thriller

It was considered a foregone conclusion the Celtics would take care of business at home against a Pistons team that hasn't won a game since Oct. 28. You can't blame anyone for counting Detroit out, but Thursday's thriller was a reminder to expect the unexpected.

After shooting lights out on their West Coast trip, the C's struggled mightily in the first half. They shot a woeful 4-for-24 from 3-point range while the Pistons went 13-for-25 from the floor (5-14 from deep). Cade Cunningham picked up where he left off on Tuesday (41 points vs. Brooklyn) with a 22-point first half in Boston to put the Pistons up 19.

Whatever Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told his team in the locker room, it resonated. Boston outscored Detroit 35-16 in the frame to tie the game up while shooting 68 percent from the field.



The Pistons didn't back down in the fourth. It was a nail-biter of a quarter with both teams trading big shots down the stretch. Cunningham's goaltend on Tatum gave the Celtics a two-point lead with 8.7 seconds left in regulation, but Detroit responded with a game-tying layup with 4.6 seconds on the clock. Tatum's would-be game-winner bounced off the rim, sending the game into OT.



Finally, the feisty Pistons ran out of gas. The Celtics went on a 15-5 run late in OT to avoid what would have undoubtedly been their worst loss of the campaign thus far.

Porzingis and White fuel the comeback

With Jaylen Brown out, someone needed to step up to score alongside Jayson Tatum. Both Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White were up for the challenge.

Porzingis dropped a season-high 35 points and did so on an efficient 13-of-21 (3-9 3-PT) shooting performance. When the Celtics needed a big shot, their prized offseason addition came through.



The Pistons had no answer for Porzingis in the post and that proved to be a difference-maker in Boston's tightly-contested victory. The Latvian big man also notched a team-high eight rebounds during a game in which his team was dominated on the boards.

White struggled mightily in the first half but, as our Chris Forsberg pointed out, he found his groove after a sneaker change in the second half:



White bounced back from a rough first half (1-5 FG, two turnovers) to shoot 8-for-10 from the field with only one turnover between the second half and overtime. He also drilled a clutch 3-pointer late in OT to help propel Boston to victory.



White finished with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He also logged five assists, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks to add to his All-Star case.

Rebounding woes nearly cost C's

Had the Celtics lost this game, it would have been due to their lackluster rebounding efforts.

The Pistons dominated the boards, 57-44. They had a 19-11 advantage on the offensive glass that gave them 31 second-chance points to the Celtics' 17. Eleven of Detroit's offensive boards came in the fourth quarter and OT.

Three Detroit players -- Bojan Bogdanović (12), Jalen Duren (14), and Jaden Ivey (10) -- recorded double-digit rebounds. No C's accomplished that feat.

Boston escaped with the victory regardless, but it'll need to clean it up in the rebounding department when it hosts Toronto on Friday night.

I have a lot of respect for the Pistons, despite their record. They've fought hard the past two games and almost won both. They are young and building character.

An absolutely classic trap game. A long, successful west coast road trip with the first game back against a team is not just the worst in the league but is heading towards being the worst in NBA history.

Time to gush over Derrick White. Jrue and Derrick made a bet to start the season about who would end the season with the most blocks. I don't know what the bet was for but Jrue better up his game or get his checkbook out because so far, through 30 games, it's 35-24 in favor of Derrick. Right now Scottie Barnes has 42 blocks in 30 games (1.4/game) and Derrick has 35 blocks in 27 games (1.3/game) for most blocks by a back court player, and Scottie Barnes is 6'7". He also plays more mpg (35.0 vs 32.7) and has played 19% more minutes total (1050 vs 883) than Derrick. However, if you look at it on a /minute basis, who gets more blocks per minute of floor time, it's tied at 1.4 blocks/36mpg. If Derrick played all 30 I'd bet he'd be #1. 6 points for Derrick in the 4th quarter and 10 of Boston's 20 points in OT.


Bob


.

Yeah, don't believe the headlines on DET. It is unfortunate but over 53 minutes, true colors will shine through. Here's what I saw:

1. We finally win a game in OT!! It's crazy 3 of our 6 loses have come in OT. Time to either avoid OT ore when we get there, do what we did last night.

2. Tale of 2 quarters really. I'd have to imagine there are now a couple of broken lockers in the Celtics locker room (probably a few in DET as they played a valiant game and if they had won, we'd have to tip our hats.) Whatever was said at halftime in our locker was hopefully recorded for posterity. No panic on the court by us. Just good, Celtic, best in the league bball in the third. Not so sure about the 2nd quarter. I counted at least 6 unforced TO's by us, yet we finished the game with only 12 TO's. But these were forcing the action type TO's that I saw and I can't really blame us.

3. Just goes to show even the alleged worst team in the league can take advantage of our TO's (27-17 for POTO's) in just one quarter, hit a few threes B2B and run up a 21 point lead. Welcome to the new NBA. 15-20 point leads are like old school 5 point leads. Don't get up. Anybody can run them up, but most, not even the best can sustain them over the course of the game against any opponent.

4. Monty ain't going anywhere. Usually at this point I'd be directing the band leading a chorus sung in rounds of Na, Na, Na, Na. Na, Na, Na, Na. Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye. But this is his first season back in the saddle and he's the highest paid coach in the league. DET has plans for him and they don't include him watching games from home this early in his contract.

5. Somebody's going to drop one to DET and probably pretty soon. Boston has temporarily removed themselves from that humiliation and story line. DET ownership handed Monty the true flaming bag o' poo on his doorstep and he stomped so hard trying to put it out that it's all over his shoes, pants leg, shirt and face. I'm pretty sure Monty said while signing, "Don't expect Jack Squat for a while." NBA should skip the way the 1st draft pick is contrived and just hand it to DET. There has to be a mercy rule in all the NBA bylaws.

6. No rest for our West Coast weary travelers although they've had a couple of days break which they more than likely spent with family. TOR coming in tonight. Hopefully, I expect a much better showing, although I can't really say I would change much. Shots don't fall all the time. They know what to do and they did it last night. BOS(-8.5) to start. We know they didn't cover last night. Vegas hung us out to dry with BOS(-18.5). Yeah, what team ain't going to get up for that.

Looks like JT & JB are questionable per ESPN. Time for the bench to step up like it normally does. Al's probably sitting. Heck let's throw KP in there, too and really see what the bench can do. Our bench doesn't want to be the ones that blow the home streak!!

db

Bobh

No doubt this was a trap game and the Celtics fell right into the trap.  Fortunately this is not last year's team.  They climbed out of the trap.

I usually talk to my friend up in Boston during the game.  At halftime I told him if we could get this thing below double digits, we would have a chance to win.  

The Pistons have some talent but they cannot win in the NBA because they cannot make 3 point shots.  Lucky for us (11-39) that Detroit went (14-43).

Aside from the horrid rebounding numbers, KP had a signature game while JT continued to fire away from deep at times when I was thinking "not another 3"  he went 2-11 from deep and 11-31 overall.  He is a magnificent basketball player that still lacks the maturity to know when shooting another 3 is not helping the team win.

The unsung hero of the game was Jrue Holiday.  His lock down defense against Cunningham in the 2nd half changed the game in our favor.  He led the team with 9 rebounds.  D White came alive in the 2nd half (it must be the shoes) and made play after play to take us to victory.  But not a lot of mention about Jrue.  He gets my Tommy Award.  He cut off the head of the snake.

The Jays are hurting a bit which really amps up the need for some help off the bench tonight.

CJ should NOT start Hauser.  His numbers are better when he comes off the pine.  He has started 3  games this year and the numbers have not been good.  Tonight we face a team with countless long athletic players.  I figure AH will sit and KP may not have as much energy given his play vs Detroit.  If Boston is going to win their 16th straight home game our bench will have to play and play well.

dboss, Jrue is 10 years older  than Cade, but he wore Cunningham down, down, down. Jrue is really a physical phenom.

Re Hauser, yes, he should not start. He plays much better off the bench. His last 5 games he's gone 4/23 from three, dropping his % to 41.1%.