The Boston Celtics took care of business on the 2nd night of a tough back to back, defeating the Detroit Pistons 118-110. Boston improves to 37-21 on the season heading into the All-Star Break.
Somehow, someway, the Boston Celtics have found themselves amidst a small win streak heading into the All-Star break. Following consecutive home losses at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, Boston was tasked with a challenging road and home back to back against the new look Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons.
Oh, and they would have to do it without the services of All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, who went down with a right knee sprain against the Clippers.
Losing Kyrie felt like adding insult to injury after the team gave up a 28 point lead to the Clippers and an 18 point lead to the Lakers. After a promising start to 2019, things began to look bleak yet again.
Then Celtics fans were reminded of something. Boston thrives in situations like this. This team may not play well when they are expected to, but they sure as hell can ball as underdogs. Of course they would go on the road and knock off the top end heavy 76ers and follow it up with a home win against the red-hot Pistons.
Boston started the contest on fire, knocking down 4 consecutive shots to jump ahead early with an 8-0 lead. Detroit answered fast and hard, going on a whopping 23-5 run to build a 9 point lead. The Celtics would close the quarter out strong with another run of their own to cut the deficit to just one.
In the 2nd period it would be Boston’s depth that would shine through and help the team regain the lead for good. Brad Wannamaker and Semi Ojeleye combined for 13 points in the quarter (3-3 from 3) with Jaylen Brown contributing 10 of his own. The Celtics waltzed into halftime with a 5 point lead.
Whatever the group had left in the tank Brad Stevens found a way to use up in the final 2 frames of play. The lead ballooned up to 20 in the 3rd quarter, highlighted by a late Tatum 3 followed by a buzzer-beating put back from Marcus Smart.
Detroit made it interesting with a valiant push that cut the Celtic lead to 10 with 4 to play, but Boston finished strong to put them away for good.
The game was won as a team, but three guys shined just a bit brighter than the rest. It wasn’t easy to narrow down the list to just 3, but it had to be done. Without further ado, let’s dive into the three stars of the night.