BSJ Game Report: Celtics 123, Pistons 99: C's bury Pistons with balanced scoring, passing, & 3-pointers

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

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics settled down after a bit of a chaotic start to the game with Luke Kornet coming in off the bench for eight points. Payton Pritchard got hot and the Celtics built a lead as high as 18 in the second. It settled at 25 after 3 as the Celtics 3-point shooting picked up while the Pistons stayed cold, a trend that continued into the fourth as Boston put the game away.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- 3-point barrage: The Celtics ended up shooting 20-48 from 3 while the Pistons only managed to shoot 7-37. Two Celtics, Pritchard and Derrick White, each hit as many 3-pointers as Detroit. 

- Spread the wealth: Before the game, JB Bickerstaff lauded the Celtics unselfishness and ball movement. The Celtics then hammered his point home with 34 assists on 46 made baskets. Pritchard had 10 assists but Jaylen Brown stood out as a serious ball-mover in this game. 

“I thought he set the tone,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Took five shots in the first half, but he made it a point to really push the pace, to create 2-on-1s and find his teammates and be a playmaker. …  I thought he did a great job of that in the first half, facilitating, getting the ball where it needed to get to.”.

- Steady march: The Celtics overtook the Pistons like high tide swallowing a sand castle. The first few waves brought a trickle of a lead, then some big ones came and flooded things, and pretty quickly, the Pistons were completely underwater. It was relentless. Six Celtics ended the game in double-figures

TURNING POINT 

A Pistons layup exactly halfway through the second quarter made it a four-point game, 37-33. Boston went on a 22-9 run after that, or 22-11 if you want to count Cade Cunningham’s layup at the end of the half, to build what was ultimately an insurmountable lead. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: I thought he was in total control the whole night. You can look at the box score and see 14 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, but you should also see the +30 in just about 30 minutes of play. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him make as many passes from so deep in the paint. And the defense was on point too. 

- Kristaps Porzingis: He’s almost all the way back from his injury. After the game, he said he’d only need a few more games to get his legs fully under him. His shooting is still a little off, but that will come in time. He killed the Pistons in the paint while blocking two shots and changing a few more. 

- Payton Pritchard: He’s a threat as soon as he steps over half court, and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense. 

“It allows me to read the shot way easier because if they're playing up on me, I drive. If not, then it's an easy release for m,” he said. “Most teams now are going to take a step towards me and I'm really just past the 3-point line. Where they're helping at is already on the 3-point line, so you got guys like JT and JB where the driving lanes are just that much open. So it just creates a lot of openness on the court and makes the driving lanes a lot easier and the reads a lot easier."

Pritchard used the extra space to dish 10 assists and he only had one turnover. He’s having an incredible season. 

- Luke Kornet: His late first-quarter stretch really settled Boston down. 

"Luke's physicality was a game changer for us in the middle of that first quarter on both ends of the floor," Mazzulla said. "He does a great job playing off the other guys on the offensive end, and you kind of saw that with his screening, his cutting and his passing and his offensive rebounds. So I thought his physicality really helped us there in his first stint."

He was a perfect 5-5 for 12 points. He also had seven rebounds and one very cool assist you'll see in a second.

- Derrick White: You know why.

23 points on 7-12 shooting but also two steals and a block. Nice to see the shooting bounce back after hitting only 5-25 from deep over the past three games. He’s too good for slumps to last too long. 

- Good officiating: Just want to point this out because we always complain about the bad calls. John Conley waited to see if a Celtics fast break would amount to anything before calling a tech on Tobias Harris. He could have called it immediately after the play, but Boston was out and running, so he waited until the Celtics pulled the ball out before calling it. 

- This play: 

Kornet to Pritchard back to Kornet out to White for 3. Celtics can really pass the ball but it’s something else when it’s the bigs being so heavily involved. 

“I knew it, like, if I flash in the paint, he's gonna find me,” Porziongis sad. “He found me and then he just did a little Luke run and cut and, and I saw him, threw it to him. I thought he was gonna finish, but then the guy came in, kicked out to D White and he didn't let us down, hit the three and it was a beautiful play.”

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

Al Horford making me look like a fool: Earlier this week I wrote about Horford completely buying into Mazzulla-ball and becoming a super-aggressive shooter whose points come almost exclusively from 3. So what does he do in this one? He only shoots two 3-pointers and gets three post-ups in the first half.

C’mon, Al. I thought we were cool. 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I don’t care what people say about 3-pointers. Keep firing!

The Celtics took 48 3-pointers and I think maybe two or three of them were not great. This game was full of beautiful Celtics offense. 

The line between good and bad 3-pointers is a blurry one, but I’m willing to accept the occasional rough shooting night or the games where they settle too much if those remain the exceptions and nights like this are the rule. 

Signed,

A former 1980’s and 90’s post player learning to appreciate modern offense

- Let me just repeat myself about Jaylen Brown

I want to tell you about this play and why it was the perfect encapsulation of Brown’s night:

This is in the midst of Boston making that game-changing run. There's a little momentum building and Brown steals the ball with momentum going to the basket. He has Porzingis running with him and the potential to create a 2-on-1 if he pushes it and challenges the defense. 

But he knew he had Jrue Holiday and he knew that there was no one left to guard him. So he calmly waited before dropping the behind the back pass for the wide-open 3. 

The game started so frantically because Brown was really pushing the pace, but it wasn’t really working for the Celtics. So Brown decided against going back to that, which may have gone against his normal instincts. He stayed poised and under control and it paid off. 

This won’t go down in the history books as one of his best games, but it really was a fantastic performance. 

Next up: The Celtics get a couple more days off before taking on the Wizards in Washington on Sunday