BSJ Game Report: Celtics 127, Piston 109 - Smart sets the tone, Tatum finishes the job

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

IN A NUTSHELL

Marcus Smart made an instant impact in his return with 3 first-quarter assists (it could have been more) mostly to Jayson Tatum who paced the C’s with 10 first-quarter points. Bojan Bogdanovic kept the Pistons close, but the Celtics started raining 3-pointers and the lead widened to 18. Isaiah Stewart started bombing 3s and the Pistons got close in the third thanks to a 38-point quarter. Luckily, Tatum put up 24 in the third to hold them off. The Celtics started off the fourth by attacking and they were able to pull away from there. 

Box Score

HEADLINES 

Righting a wrong: After the game, multiple Celtics referenced the loss to Detroit a year ago almost to the day in this exact situation. The Celtics clearly seemed to be bothered by that and used it as a bit of motivation. 

Scoring the right way: In a league that prioritizes layups and 3-pointers, this is the kind of shot chart teams are looking for. 

The Celtics have hit for 21 or more 3-pointers 21 times in franchise history. Play-by-play man Sean Grande did the math… 

That's a lot of 3-pointers. Tatum even acknowledged it after the game, saying he texted the group after watching their game against the Bucks. 

“I joked about it – we shoot a lot of threes. I noticed that yesterday,” he said. “We shoot a lot of threes. But guys was knocking them down, and we had a chance to win the game. But that was just a great game to watch.”

Series Sweep: The Celtics swept the season series against Detroit for the first time since the 1991-92 season.

TURNING POINT

The Pistons were hanging around early in the fourth quarter, but the Celtics put together an 11-0 run over about four minutes to get back up by 19. After that it was just a matter of everyone getting their highlights. 

THREE UP

Marcus Smart: He immediately came in and made an impact with his defense. He had 4 steals in the first half, and 6 overall. He also got Tatum going early with some great passes that got him easy buckets. He finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals. He’s the first Celtic since Rajon Rondo to put up a statline of at least 6 in those categories in a game.  He’s the sixth Celtic to post that stat line since 1990 joining Rondo, Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, David Wesley, and Larry Bird.

Jayson Tatum: A dominant third quarter helped keep the Celtics ahead of a Pistons team that couldn't miss. He led the team in scoring for the 37th time this season with 38 points (15-24 FG, 6-10 3FG, 2-2 FT) and added 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Tatum has now put up at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 70 career games, which ties Bill Russell for the eighth-most such games in Celtics history.

Malcolm Brogdon: He helped build a huge early lead by bombing four straight 3-pointers. He finished with 25 points on 10-14 shooting and 6 assists. He is now third in the NBA at 44.9% shooting from deep, which would be a career high for a single season. This is his seventh game with 4 or more 3-pointers this season. 

NONE DOWN 

I’m feeling generous before the All-Star break. Blake Griffin was in my early draft’s “down” but I think he redeemed himself later in the game … at least enough to escape this section. After that wild dive for the loose ball, how could I possibly put him here? 

“I loved it, man, I loved that for Blake and this team,” Smart said of the standing ovation Griffin got after that diving play. “We've been loving every last minute of it. For Blake to come in and, understandably, he's not the same Blake Griffin that he was a couple years ago. His minutes are down, but he still is professional to come in and give his body up on the line for his teammates. I don't see how you don't get excited for that. So we all just wanted to make sure that we showed that and gave him his roses.”

I can also call out the third quarter defense, which did take a step back, but they recovered well from that. Some of it was just Stewart getting ridiculously hot from 3 and Bogdanovic having an awesome game. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER 

- We actually caught a glimpse of it all coming together

I’m not going to go overboard about a game against the Pistons, but considering the Celtics injuries and what we saw last night in Milwaukee, there was a stretch there at the end of the first quarter into the second where we really saw how dominant this team could be.

After Tatum had scored 10 first-quarter points, Grant Williams checked in and hit a couple of 3-pointers. Then Brogdon made a couple of layups. Then Derrick White bombed a couple from 3. Slowly the Celtics built a lead and by the end of the quarter, Tatum was back in slinging dimes. 

Meanwhile, Smart was disrupting everything with steal after steal and I couldn't help but think this version of the Celtics is the one that will win a championship. This version of wave after wave after wave of good player making plays is how teams will get worn down and Boston can go on a march through the playoffs. 

“I think we’re just playing hard,” Griffin said. “Guys are making shots, but I think we’ve really made it a point to sit down defensively and get stops and make hustle plays and be there for each other, and I think the attention to detail is what Joe always talks about, and I think we’ve done that.”

That's really where I saw it. I wasn’t as much about shots going in or dominating the Pistons. It was the way they were playing. For the first time this season I really felt like I saw a lot coming together with the main guys on the roster and the bench. 

It was just a glimpse, so I won’t go on and on about it. They're heading into the All-Star break, so there's time to rest … and forget things. But I’m just filing this away for now. This could be the start of something. 

Next up: Enjoy some time off folks, they don’t play again until next Thursday, Feb. 23 in Indiana