Everything you need to know about the Pistons’ 118-108 win over the Celtics in quickie form.
HEADLINES
Where’s the defense? The Pistons came into town as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference but they looked more like the Warriors with their offensive efficiency at the Garden. They shot a season-best 51 percent from the field, and spent the vast majority of the night carving up the NBA’s best defense behind the shooting of Tobias Harris (31 points) and inside domination of Andre Drummond (26 points, 22 rebounds). The C’s hung tough all night on the offensive end, but couldn’t get the stops when it mattered most.
Avery Bradley returns and makes a major impact: The former Celtic didn’t have a great shooting night in his first game back at the Garden (5-of-14) but he did make his usual impact on the defensive end, hounding Kyrie Irving (18 points) all over the floor with some pressure on the perimeter that kept him from taking over the game.
TURNING POINT
The Pistons broke a 100-100 tie midway through the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run, largely on the back of Andre Drummond. The center created in the post against Al Horford, corralled loose rebounds and made his free throws (6-of-8 on the night) to build a late lead the Celtics couldn’t cut into late.
https://twitter.com/TheNBAFlash/status/935339424023420928
TWO UP
Daniel Theis: Two games ago, the German was a DNP-CD against the Orlando Magic. On Monday night, he solidified his spot back in the team’s rotation with some energetic defense and smart aggression as the rolling big in a pick-and-roll. He finished the night 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.
Marcus Smart: Ever since a pep talk from Al Horford on Saturday, the point guard has looked like a changed man with his jump shot. After going 7-of-8 from the field against the Pacers, he was on fire yet again Monday night, drilling 8-of-13 attempts, including six makes from 3-point range. He finished with a season-high 23 points.
https://twitter.com/CaseyBake16/status/935335823939112960
ONE DOWN
Kyrie Irving’s ballhandling: The All-Star was bothered by Avery Bradley for the majority of the evening and it translated into some miscues. Even with Brad Stevens trying to get Irving some court time with Bradley on the pine, the point guard turned over the ball a season-high six times in 35 minutes, with several of those leading to easy Pistons baskets in transition.
https://twitter.com/caden_morello/status/935337469171720192
TOP PLAY
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— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 28, 2017