Final: Celtics 117, Pistons 108 - Electric Tatum drops 43 to carry C's to 6th straight win

Game 13: Celtics (-9) at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m., Little Ceasars Arena, NBCS Boston

Injuries: Boston - Danilo Gallinari, Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon (right hamstring tightness), Al Horford (low back soreness), Jaylen Brown (questionable, knee)  Detroit: Cade Cunningham (shin), Alec Burks (questionable, return to competition conditioning), Marvin Bagley III (probable, knee)

Detroit probable starters: Corey Joseph, Jaden Ivey, Saddiq Bey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Stewart

Refs: Sean Wright (#4), Marat Kogut (#32), Phenizee Ransom (#70)

A little something about the game: It’s the third game in four nights for both teams (both are on a back-to-back), and the second time they will face each other in that span. Both teams are dealing with some injuries to key players. The last time around, the Pistons drew a bunch of fouls and got a lot of second chances, but Brown and Sam Hauser kept Detroit at bay in the first half and Jayson Tatum used a 16 points-in-five-minutes explosion to carry the Celtics in the second half.

How Boston wins: The energy in these 3-in-4 games is always highest at the beginning, so the Celtics have to come out hot and build their lead early. From there, we can all sit and lament the defensive mistakes, second chance points, and -- after I wrote a big thing about their turnovers staying under control -- them coughing the ball up a ton. Bold prediction: This is a Tatum triple-double night.  

Defensively, pack the paint and dare them to shoot. I doubt Killian Hayes gets hot again. Just hope Saddiq Bey doesn’t. 

How Detroit wins: The formula is the same as the last game for them: crash hard, get putbacks and fouls, and get to the line. I don’t expect them to be quite as horrible at the rim this time around, mainly because it’s damn near impossible to be that bad again. They always play Boston tough, so if they come out and match Boston early, they can maybe sneak away with a late win because the Celtics let up a little too much.

Things I’m looking for:

- Bench bigs: Without Horford, Luke Kornet will have to step up, which also means Noah Vonleh will get some run. Those guys shouldn’t be too tired, so it’ll be up to them to help keep some energy. 

- Heavy does of PP: This might be where the real energy comes from. I can see myself writing a postgame column extending on my take from last night’s game that Pritchard’s energy is infectious and important. He could be the guy who swings the momentum at some point in this game. 

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.