The Celtics still had a shot.
Derrick White’s 3-pointer with 8:14 to go in the game cut the Pistons lead to 16. The Celtics didn't look great, but they were in almost exactly the same spot as they were in the second quarter. Boston was down 15 with 8:19 to go in the first half and they whipped off a 27-12 run to tie the game heading into halftime.
All they needed to do was get some stops and hit some shots to put some pressure on a young Pistons team. If they could just walk the lead down some, the Pistons might start to lose some poise.
So when Ausar Thompson turned his ankle to drive on Al Horford, it looked like Boston was going to get the break they needed. Thompson stalled, crumpled, and hoisted a bad shot that missed the rim by a foot. White and Jayson Tatum were both there and both went for the ball, knocking out of each other’s grasp and into the hands of Malik Beasley for a putback.
Okay, so maybe Isaiah Stewart should have been called for the blatant shove in their backs, but also, a little communication there would have gone a long way. One of them should have caught that.
“They were really handsy, physical,” Kristaps Porzingis said after the game. “The refs were not calling a lot of stuff, so just one of those games we had to adapt quick, and I felt like we didn't.”
With apologies to Adam Silver, the Pistons wanted this game a lot more than the Celtics. That was obvious from the opening tip. They played faster and harder than the Celtics, beating Boston to just about every loose ball and every rebound. Detroit grabbed 19 more boards than Boston, seven more on the offensive glass. They turned Boston over and cashed in on nearly every opportunity those created.
“They did a great job keeping up their ball pressure to start the (third) quarter,” Joe Mazzulla said. The Pistons built their entire 20 point lead after halftime. “(It caused) some of our live ball turnovers, and they did a great job getting the paint, and we weren't connected on our defense, protecting the rim, and they took advantage of that.”
The Pistons came into the night on a seven-game winning streak, but only one of those wins came against a team with a winning record. The Celtics, even on their third game in four nights, were a measuring stick.
“Obviously, we came to play,” Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said after the game. “We've lost to this team a few times already, and I think they had something to prove. I think the winning streak matters to them, and they didn't want to lose that tonight. So I think that was on their mind.”
This is the difference between Detroit and Boston. This game meant a whole lot more than a Wednesday night regular season game at the end of February. And that's not to say the Celtics didn’t want to win. Mazzulla proved as much when he went to empty his bench in the fourth quarter but held back after an Al Horford 3-pointer gave the Celtics one last flicker of hope.
The difference is that the Pistons dug deep into a place Boston isn’t touching yet. It’s like dipping into savings to buy something you really wanted as a teenager versus a 30-year-old understanding that putting that money away will buy something better later on.
“We get everybody's best shot,” Tatum said. “We’re the standard. You win the championship, and that's any champion in NBA history, the next year, they're the standard. Guys are trying to get what they have. There's a responsibility that comes with that. Most of the year, we've done a really great job. Tonight we fell short of that a little bit.”
The Celtics now have to do what they’ve done all season. They’ve lost two in a row only once this season, and avoiding that fate will require the opposite of what they showed in Detroit. The Cleveland Cavaliers will be waiting for the Celtics on Friday night with new wing weaponry in De’Andre Hunter. They too have something to prove. They will also be coming for the crown hoping to send a message.
“We want to protect the home court,” Porzingis said. “We haven't played up to last season's level on our home court, and that’s going to be a challenge for us. We've been playing really well, except for maybe today. We had a slip-up, but we really look forward to having a good home stretch now, protecting our home court.”