BSJ Game Report: Boston Celtics 102, Detroit Pistons 93 - Jayson Tatum, Robert Williams key a (relatively) easy win and return to some normalcy

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics win over the Detroit Pistons with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out to a strong start but they played with their food a little bit until the end of the first quarter when they built a 12 point lead. They sort of meandered around a 15 point lead until the third quarter when they got a little too sloppy and Detroit cut it to 10. After an angry timeout, the Celtics went on a Jayson Tatum-fueled run to push the lead up to 20 and they were never really threatened after that until garbage time when the end of Boston’s bench gave up a 19-4 run to turn a blowout into a single-digit win.

Box Score

HEADLINES

They did enough: The Celtics had some stretches early in the game where it looked like they were very much on a business trip; in Detroit to lay the hammer down and get the hell out of there. They didn’t exactly play a full 48, but I’m not too worried about it. 

Detroit is baaaaaad: There were plenty of times the Celtics gave up clear lanes to the rim or missed a rotation and Detroit missed a layup or threw the ball out of bounds.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics were especially sloppy in the third quarter and the Pistons got it down to 10. Ime Udoka called that timeout and the Celtics went on a 21-9 run to end the period. 

"It was getting too easy,” Ime Udoka said. “ At that point, they had 15 in the quarter in the first five minutes when they had 16 and 15 in the entire first and second quarter. So, we just got too comfortable where it was going easy for us on the offensive end and we let them get some transition baskets. … We just said, let's get back into it and we guarded the rest of the quarter. I think the last seven or so minutes they only had 10 points. So we kept them to a 25-point quarter and got our focus back."

SECOND GUESS

Maybe Ime pulled the starters a smidge too early? If you’re one of the people who took the Celtics -10, you agree. That is, if you’re still conscious. 

THREE UP

Jayson Tatum: He had 5 points heading into the third quarter, which is when former Celtics assistant and current Pistons assistant Jerome Allen dropped a little trash talk his way. 

“We was winning, we was playing well, we held them to 30-something points. But I only had like five points, so just talking to him kind of woke me up a little bit,” Tatum said “He was like, ‘Yo, you might as well put a coach’s polo on tonight’. And I was like, ‘all right, I got something for you.’”

He finished with 24 points and 9 rebounds, but was a little light this time on the distribution with only 1 assist. The best stat was his 28 minutes played. 

Robert Williams: It’s Robert Williams day on BSJ. 11 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 blocks. No steals, though, but I’m still firmly driving the “Rob will get a 5x5 game this season” train. Much more on Rob coming up separately.

Marcus Smart: How well is Smart playing? Well enough that I’m starting to get the “Okay, maybe you were right” comments and tweets. Smart as the point guard continues to control the game, and he continues to have a very close connection with Robert Williams. 

ONE (GROUP) DOWN

The Garbage Time Players: I want to start by saying I get it, it’s tough to come in cold and play well, but these guys are all trying to make their cases for more playing time. As unfair as it might sound, these little stretches don’t exactly inspire trust. 

Brad Stevens always says he admires guys who can come in cold and make an impact right away. They really can’t afford to have strikes like this against them. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

They look … normal? 

We’re all dancing around what we want to say about this team because they’ve gotten fat on cupcakes. It’s a four-game winning streak (or six wins in seven games, or 11-4 in their last 15) and we can pick them all apart somehow (except the Kings game. Poor Sacramento). 

And just like we didn’t really know if the .500 Celtics were truly mediocre because of extenuating injury/COVID circumstances, we don’t know if the the 11-4 rip roarin’ Celtics are really fixed because this feels like the equivalent of Kramer beating up on elementary schoolers in karate class (it’s kah-rah-TAY, Jerry). 

But I can tell you this: They look normal out there. They're not unfathomably bad for egregious stretches … at least not quite like before. In this game, they looked like a normal, good team playing against a bad team. 

“We’re coming out with the right focus from the start, 31 points in the first half, 15 and 16 in the first two quarters,” Ime Udoka said. “We guarded extremely well until the end there obviously. But coming out with the right mindset at both ends of the floor. Having good carryover, showing more consistency.”

I don’t know what normal will ultimately mean for this team. For all I know, it might still make them a .500 team and that will just be how it goes. But there's just a little something different in their demeanor. 

“We always been confident, even when we was under .500,” Tatum said. “There was never any doubt in that locker room. Frustration, which was warranted with how we were playing and the results and just frustrated cause we knew how much better we could have been and still can be. We got a lot of confident guys in that locker room.”

The flaws with the roster still exist. I’m not going to pretend this is rainbow and puppy dog territory. 

It’s more like they got their WiFi connection back and their GPS is working again. They're not so aimless out there. Does that make them better drivers? I don’t know, but they might be past the driving in circles portion of the program (so long as they stay healthy).