Final: Celtics 113, Pistons 104 - Payton Pritchard fuels big 4th quarter in C's comeback

GAME 62

Boston Celtics (35-26, 15-15 road, 6th East) vs. Detroit Pistons (14-45, 9-20 home, 14th East)

Little Caesars Arena

Noon - NBCSN Boston 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Detroit: Cade Cunningham, Cory Joseph, Saddiq Bey, Jerami Grant, Isaiah Stewart

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- This is a noon game because the Detroit Red Wings have a home game later tonight

- There are no injuries on the Celtics injury report

- Boston is favored by 12

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Sluggish start: These early starts are tough for players who are very much creatures of habit. The general tendency in early starts is to rely on jumpers early just to see if you can get away settling as the coffee kicks in. The Celtics need to have some double espressos and get out to a good start. 

“Throws guys off the routine a little bit but we had a good film session yesterday,” Ime Udoka said before the game. “Went over Detroit obviously just played him right before the break so fresh in our mind. And so just a little routine, early morning wise, as far as no shootaround, but got in the gym yesterday and had a good film session. So, should be ready to roll.”

2. Revenge game: The Celtics had their nine-game winning streak snapped by the Pistons. After the win over Brooklyn, Celtics players seemed pretty focused on getting that one back. 

“Yeah, I mean, we're reminded of it,” Udoka said. “It was two games ago, the last game before the break. Then they had a good win against Cleveland as well. So they put a few together. It's more so a reminder of what we didn't do well in that game. And what they bring to the table. Obviously, we were missing some guys and, right before the break, had a little letdown there.”

The Celtics will have their full roster available in this one, which should change enough of what went wrong. But the combination of an early start and revenge can go one of two ways: It’s either going to be the fuel to get them motivated to play well, or it can encourage some sleepy Celtics to isolate too much in the name of reclaimed honor. 

3: Be physical: Detroit really punished the Celtics in their win before the break. 

“They’ve had 18 and 20 offensive rebounds against us in two games,” Udoka said. “They play a physical brand of basketball, rebound extremely well. And then we've let Bey and some guys get off -- I think 15 3-point attempts,  I think he's 9 for 15 in the two games. So being specific with how we need to guard them and be ready to match their physicality.”

Detroit has more wins against teams above .500 (8) than they do against below .500 teams (6). We can talk about revenge from Boston’s perspective but we also need to recognize the confidence that win gave Detroit.

When a team knows they can out-match an opponent physically, then you can throw the records out the window. They will try to do it again. Boston needs to match that from the start and set the record straight. 

GAME THREAD

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