BSJ Live Coverage: 51, Pistons 59, End of 2Q - Fouls, fouls, and more fouls

BOSTON CELTICS (26-15) at DETROIT PISTONS (30-10)

Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Mi.

Game time: 8:00 p.m.

TV: NBC, Peacock

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Celtics injury report: 

• Chris Boucher - AVAILABLE (low back spasms)

• Josh Minott - OUT (left ankle sprain)

• Payton Pritchard - AVAILABLE (left ankle soreness)

• Jayson Tatum - OUT (right Achilles repair)

• Amari Williams - OUT (G League, two-way)

• Ron Harper Jr. - OUT (G League, two-way)

• Max Shulga - OUT (G League, two-way)

Pistons injury report:

• Isaac Jones - OUT (G League, on assignment)

• Wendell Moore Jr. - OUT (G League, two-way)

• Tolu Smith - OUT (G League, two-way)

Celtics starters: Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta

Pistons starters: Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

What to watch for: Let’s get ready to rumbleeeee.

In this corner, the Detroit Pistons—the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Cade Cunningham, a bona fide MVP candidate, has been leading the way, alongside a supporting cast of Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, and Tobias Harris. Detroit will head into Monday night’s tilt still red-hot after a 121-78 routing of the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

And in this corner, the Boston Celtics. The two seed. Jaylen Brown, another MVP candidate, is fresh off a 41-point performance in Atlanta, a game in which he and Sam Hauser lifted the Celtics to a blowout of their own. They took down the Hawks, 132-106.

“He’s just— He's a hell of a basketball player," Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff said of Brown pre-game. "Again, a guy you talk about having to do certain things, and having to carry the load of scoring the way that he has his usage rate, like, all eyes on him defensively, and he's still figuring out a way to impact winning. And I think he's playing some of the best basketball that I've seen him play. But we always, as coaches, find [that] impactful is how it impacts winning, and that's what he's done. He's [shouldering] that burden, but hasn't made it just about himself. He's figured out a way to help this team continue to get better and win games.”

It’s the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 2 seed. Two of the best teams in basketball. Both potential favorites to reach the NBA Finals. These are the games that everyone should look forward to.

"This is a big game," Derrick White said at Celtics shootaround on Monday morning. "Two teams that are playing really well. This will be the fourth time we've played them, so a lot of familiarity, and all three games were really close. So, when you got games like that, it just makes it a lot of fun."

Update: Payton Pritchard was upgraded from questionable to available around noon on Monday. He missed his first game of the season on Saturday night in Atlanta. Chris Boucher was upgraded from questionable to probable in the same update from Celtics PR, and later upgraded to available.

Tale of the tape: These two squads have already squared off three times this season. The Celtics are 1-2 in those games, and this will be the last regular-season faceoff (and also a possible preview of the Eastern Conference finals).

"I mean, it kind of all just came down to little things," White said of the first three matchups. "Rebounding, obviously, I think we're a little different than we were when we played them last couple times, but rebounding, taking care of the ball, just getting back in transition. Just things that we talk about every game, and they kind of feast on things like that."

Detroit’s offensive rebounding won them the first game, as they bullied Boston on the glass back on October 26, nabbing 19 offensive rebounds. The 119-113 loss dropped the Celtics to 0-3 to begin the season.

Then, on November 26, with Neemias Queta sidelined, Brown and Derrick White helped the Celtics get their revenge. Boston squeaked by with a 117-114 victory, largely thanks to their relentless mismatch hunting against Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert throughout the fourth quarter.

In their third meeting on December 12, Cunningham proved to be too much for the Celtics to handle. His 32 points led the Pistons to a 112-105 win in Boston.

Last game: As noted, Brown and Hauser were two flamethrowers on Saturday night. The Celtics torched the Hawks in Atlanta, leading by as many as 43 points in the second half. Quin Snyder’s decision to bring Onyeka Okongwu up to the level in the pick-and-roll proved fatal, as Boston’s shooters took full advantage.

Standings check-in: The Celtics, now in second place in the East, hold a 1.5-game lead over the New York Knicks. However, they still sit 4.5 games behind the Pistons. So, that means by the end of Monday night, the guys in green will either be 3.5 or 5.5 games out from the top seed in the conference, a position Boston was confident they could be in when the year began.

"We didn't really know it at the beginning of the year, but when we came in, we kind of all bought into what we wanted to do and how we wanted to play, and so, [that's what we] talked about, and everybody bought into it, and we're seeing the results from that," said White.

Pistons check-in: Detroit is 6-4 in its last 10 games, but 5-1 in its last six, including wins over the Pacers, Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Knicks, and Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s been a collective effort over that six-game stretch, too, as nobody on the Pistons is averaging more than 20.5 points per game (Cunningham).

However, Duren has been a monster on the glass, grabbing 13.0 rebounds in that span, and Robinson is shooting 53.8% from deep range on 6.5 attempts.

Other notable hot streaks include Dannis Jenkins (57.9% on 3.2 3PAs per game) and former Celtics Javonte Green (42.4% on 5.5 3PAs per game).