The Boston Celtics (23-54) held a 19 point lead over the Pistons in the third quarter in a high scoring affair but blew the lead and eventually lost the game to the Detroit Pistons (28-49). Boston, looking like they would finally win a road game after making three after three, suddenly lost their mojo and the Pistons who were hanging around for most of the night took advantage. The Celts have now lost 12 straight road games and their eighth game overall.
Storyline of the night: Offense was the story of the night with Boston leading the contest 65-55 at halftime and nearly scoring 100 points after three quarters. Detroit outscored Boston 30-16 in the fourth quarter and finished with the four point heartbreaking victory over the C’s.
Highlight of the night: Late in the fourth quarter, Phil Pressey tipped in a basket over a much bigger defender. It was Pressey’s night all game long with his first double double of his career. He finished with 12 points and 11 assists.
Turning point: Once the Celtics took an 82-63 lead, and after that, the Pistons outscored the Celtics 52-29. In my opinion, that is the turning point where the game went from a blowout to a closely contested game.
(BONUS) Heartbreaker of the night: With the Celtics down 113-111 with 6.9 seconds left, Jerryd Bayless took a three pointer that rolled around in the rim and out. This would have given the C’s the lead by one with under seven seconds left.
Positives:
- With only nine players available tonight (No Rondo, Humphries, Bradley) the Celtics had six players score in double figures. They in fact had all the points for Boston. Bayless had 25 points, Jeff Green had 23, Jared Sullinger had 22 and Brandon Bass had 18. Bayless and Sullinger were a combined 9-12 from three point range.
- Boston shot close to 50 percent for most of the game (including 60 percent in the first quarter). They finished at 47 percent (42-88). They also shot 14-31 from three (45 percent), but were also 10-14 at one point when everything was going in.
- The Celtics out-assisted Detroit 25-18 without Rondo.
- Their 65 points in the first half was a season high in a half.
- Once again, Pressey’s first double double of his career and highlight of the night shows that he was a very big positive.
Negatives:
- The defense was not good enough to ever put Detroit away in this game. Despite great shooting from Boston for the majority of this one, the Pistons were always hanging around… just enough to snipe Boston in the end.
- Late game execution, as always, was a problem for the Green tonight. They missed their last seven shots to lose their 13th out of the last 14 games.
- Detroit’s strong interior game was too much tonight as big men Andre Drummond had 19 points and 20 rebounds and Greg Monroe had 21 points and seven rebounds.
After another disappointing loss, Boston will have three days off before they face the Atlanta Hawks, who are fighting for a playoff spot on Wednesday in Atlanta (33-42). They are currently in the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Stay tuned!
I’m Jess Sayin…
Jess Sayin'... 