Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 91-81 win over the Pistons in quickie form.
HEADLINES
Al Horford shakes off early knee injury: The veteran big man shook off an early knee issue (he bumped knees with Anthony Tolliver) in the first quarter and had a big bounceback performance following an ugly outing against the Spurs. The 31-year-old stuffed the stat sheet yet again with a team-high 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and a pair of blocks, all while slowing down Tobias Harris (5-of-15 shooting) for most of the contest.
Defense steps up in revenge game: The Celtics allowed a season-low 81 points by the Pistons, which was a terrific response to their initial meeting of the year in which the Pistons put up 118, a season-high for a C’s opponent. The defense played with purpose in the paint and rotated well, while Brad Stevens made the necessary scheme adjustments to keep the Pistons off the scoreboard for large stretches. The hosts had an off shooting night on the whole, but the C’s defense was a big part of that.
TURNING POINT
The Pistons trimmed an 18-point halftime deficit to four midway through the fourth, as the Celtics missed ten consecutive points at one point of the frame. Brad Stevens reinserted Jaylen Brown back into the game at the four-minute mark, which helped to jumpstart the C’s offense. The visitors scored on four of their next five possessions, which helped rebuild the double-digit lead and put the Pistons away for good.
TWO UP
Aron Baynes: The veteran center got some nice revenge against his former teammates. After spending most of the team’s first matchup of the year on the bench, he broke out with six points and a season-high 13 rebounds in a season-high 27 minutes. He also did a terrific job limiting Andre Drummond to a season-low six points, and played terrific interior defense against Pistons drivers' down low.
Jayson Tatum: Might just have to put Tatum in permanent ink in this section for the rest of the season. He was lights out yet again from 3-point range, going 3-of-5 from downtown to raise his 3-point shooting percentage to 52 percent on the year. If anything, the Celtics need to get him involved in the offense more, since he just took seven attempts on the day and still managed to score 11 points.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Smart: His defense was stellar per usual, but the point guard was responsible for a lot of the ugly offense we saw from the second unit. He forced up a few contested jumpers, he tried to take Avery Bradley 1-on-1 low in the shot clock and he turned over the ball a team-high five times. He needs to stay focused on playing within himself a bit more, even when Marcus Morris is out.
Second-quarter offense: Both teams combined for one of the ugliest offensive performances we’ve seen this year over 12 minutes. Boston was just 5-of-15 from the field and turned the ball over eight times, while the Pistons shot even worse (28 percent from the field) despite getting a healthy number of open looks. The two teams scored just 31 points combined during the quarter in a period that may have set offensive basketball back by a couple decades.
TOP PLAY
Semi with the Euro-step and the bench loves it.
What's better: @semi's euro step or @DTP_Mario & @KyrieIrving's reaction ? pic.twitter.com/ct2JVSEInN
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 10, 2017