Celtics got huge boost from familiar source in win over Pistons

The TD Garden crowd erupted after Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham missed a free throw with a chance to tie Wednesday’s game in its final moments. Moments earlier, Boston Celtics forward Jordan Walsh let out a Kevin-Garnett-esque scream with the fans surrounding him going into a frenzy, after forcing Cunningham to lose the ball out of bounds.

These two moments were a euphoric culmination of 48 minutes of both the fans and players giving their best energy of the season.

As much as I’d love to claim that the magic of the NBA Cup brought it out of the Garden faithful, it wasn’t that. Maybe it was Boston’s opportunity to prevent the Pistons from winning a franchise-record 14th-straight game.

There’s actually nothing better in the NBA’s regular season than a nice winning (or losing) streak. Once the consecutive wins hit double digits, every game takes on a playoff-like atmosphere, and it’s awesome.

Wednesday was no different.

That element raised the stakes for players on both sides, creating a chaotic, back-and-forth slugfest. Watching the game, it was obvious how badly both teams wanted to win, and the fans appreciated that, according to Joe Mazzulla.

"I want to thank the Garden for [bringing the energy], because they just appreciate great basketball,” He praised postgame. “They just appreciate the grit and the toughness. That's the standard we have to play up to every night."

Mazzulla pointed to a hustle play from Derrick White as the genesis of the Garden’s grit.

White sprinted the floor to chase down Jaden Ivey and poked the ball loose to jumpstart a Celtics fastbreak.

Boston’s man in charge literally could not say enough about how great the atmosphere was on Wednesday. He must’ve mentioned it four or five times during his postgame media availability.

“This is the best crowd we had all year,” Jaylen Brown agreed. “You could feel the energy. You could feel them behind it. I loved to see it.”

The lack of expectations for the Celtics made Wednesday special

Sports are so funny. Fans will get up to support a middling team that plays hard, more than they will for a juggernaut that simply takes care of business. There’s a reason why so many people have fond memories of the Isaiah Thomas-led Celtics. No one expected great things from them, yet they finished at the top of the Eastern Conference in 2016-17.

Meanwhile, it took two playoff rounds for the building to come alive during the 2024 NBA Championship run. Maybe that’s got something to do with the weight of expectations and the nerves that accompany them.

A team like this one, in 2025-26, that’s been labeled as a “gap year,” is completely devoid of expectations. Fans are shaping them as the season goes. They’re deciding whether or not they want to believe or if they just want to tank.

This group is quite literally earning the buy-in from the fanbase each and every night. A win like Wednesday’s could go a long way in restoring joy to North Station, after a summer of heartbreak and financial gymnastics.