1. Ice Cold Shooting
Much like the temperatures outside on a cold December night in Boston, the Celtics shooting was incredibly ice cold, especially from three, and that turned out to be the great equalizer that led to their
loss to the Pistons. The Celtics as a team struggled from three point range as they shot 10-39 (26%) as a team while the Pistons out shot them by a little bit, going 13-36 (36%). The free throw line also killed Boston in this game as they went 19-27 at the charity stripe. In other words, the Celtics missed 8 free throws in this game and lost by 7. Ouch.
2. Another 30 Points For Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown was really good against Pistons, finishing with 34 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks while shooting 13-25 FG. The only problem with his performance is he went 7-14 from the free throw line, which loomed large in a game the Celtics lost by 7 points. Brown took accountability for the loss after the game, saying: “We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better. I wasn’t good enough for my team tonight. So, that’s on me.” I wouldn’t blame Brown for this loss at all however as he was carrying Boston for a large portion of this game.
Brown was doing a ton of seal hunting tonight and his main target was an old rival in Duncan Robinson. There were multiple times in this game where Brown was able to get Robinson 1-on-1 and it almost always ended in points for Boston. A good example of him playing with his food was on this play in the third quarter where Brown just barreled through Robinson to get to his spot and just elevated over him for an and-1.
Brown’s defense was also incredible, more specifically his third block of the game. One of the most athletic players in the NBA in Ausar Thompson was looking for a shot as the shot clock was expiring late in the 4th quarter. Thompson went up for a midrange jumper and Brown met him at the summit and blocked the shot attempt. This led to a fast break for the Celtics that ended in a Derrick White three to cut the deficit to 3 points at the time.
3. 4th Quarter Derrick White is real
It doesn’t matter if he is having a great game or a bad game, one thing about Derrick White is for certain: he will hit big shots in the 4th quarter. White had 14 of his 31 points in this game in the 4th quarter and all of them came in big moments that although didn’t lead to a win, were still big shots at the time.
His first big shots of the 4th quarter came on a fast break off of a rebound. On the first play, Payton Pritchard pushed the pace and found White who was streaking towards the top of the key for a walk in three that forced the Pistons to call a timeout. The second play was similar to the first with Pritchard pushing the pace but this time White drove past Cade Cunningham who reached in for a foul. White was able to throw up a prayer that banked in for an and-1.
The rest of his made shots in the 4th were crucial in keeping it a one-possession game. His third shot of the quarter came off of the Jaylen Brown block on Ausar Thompson, where he hit another walk up three off of a nice pass from Anfernee Simons. His fourth came with under 3 minutes to go when he got the switch on Tobias Harris. White drove and pulled up for a mid-range jumper that cut the Celtics deficit to 2 points. His final made shot came with 1:32 left in the game as he crossed up Duncan Robinson into a hesi-pull up three.
White did a great job trying to keep the Celtics in the game and although Boston lost, he should still be highlighted for his 4th quarter heroics.
4. Neemias Queta vs. Jalen Duren
The last time the Celtics played the Pistons in TD Garden, Neemias Queta was ruled out. This led to Jalen Duren having a monster game on the glass as he finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds. This time, Queta was healthy for the Celtics and he did a great job at limiting Duren’s impact on the game as a whole. Duren finished with only 6 points and 3 rebounds and was a non-factor for the Pistons all night long.
Queta’s first test came at the 9:34 mark of the 1st quarter where Duren got the ball on the elbow. He drove into Queta’s chest trying to overpower him but not only did Queta absorb the contact, he was able to contest the shot and block it into the first row.
Queta was also able to make his presence known on the offensive end of this game as well. Jaylen Brown was leading the break and threw it to Baylor Scheierman in the corner. Scheierman made a tiptoe catch on the sideline and flung a bullet pass to Neemias Queta who was streaking down the floor. Queta caught it and in stride just blew by Duren for a monster slam that had TD Garden going crazy.
5. Simons is still a bucket
Anfernee Simons has not always had his shot this season but it feels like in big time games so far he makes his presence known with a couple highlight plays, even if his impact is minimal overall. Simons had a great play in the 1st quarter where the shot clock was running down and he was able to throw up a shot after taking a hit from Jaden Ivey that went in.
Another play that stood out to me was something we haven’t seen a lot from Simons this year which was a drive to the basket. At the 8:34 mark of the 4th quarter Simons was able to drive on Ausar Thompson and throw up a layup that went over the outstretched arms of both Thompson and Isaiah Stewart for a nice looking basket.
Simons is good for a couple shots in a game that makes you see why the Celtics traded for him. However, he still didn’t make a huge impact, finishing with 9 points and 1 assist on 3-9 FG and 0-5 3PM. I wonder if Boston is going to move him at the deadline, but for now, I hope we can see even a little bit more consistency out of him because he can score in bunches that can take over a game.
6. Walsh in Foul Trouble
Although he started this game, Jordan Walsh only played a total of 18 minutes in this game and that was due to his heavy foul trouble early on. He committed 3 in only 5 minutes in the first half alone and sat for almost all of the 3rd quarter before picking up his 4th foul. Then in crunch time, Joe Mazzulla opted for Anfernee Simons to end the game over Walsh, saying, “I thought we needed scoring at that time. We were down multiple possessions. I also felt like the points that Cunningham got weren’t matchup dependent.”
This isn’t the first time that Walsh got into foul trouble. He fouled out in the Celtics win vs. the Raptors on December 7th. I feel this will be a learning experience for him; Boston needs him on the court and taking bad fouls early on severely impacts the Celtics defense.
7. Costly Turnovers
In the first half of the game the Celtics did a good job with keeping the ball — they only turned it over 4 times in total. Sadly, that trend didn’t continue as they turned it over 8 times in the second half with 5 of those coming in the 4th quarter. It really felt like a bad sign when to start the fourth quarter, Jordan Walsh thew an errant pass to Jaylen Brown in the corner that he couldn’t come up with on Boston’s first offensive possession. The worst turnovers came while the Celtics were trying to mount a comeback in the final 5 minutes of the game. They coughed it up three times and it ended with Detroit scoring points on all of them. This really hurt Boston and dug them a hole that in the end, they couldn’t climb out of.
8. Allowed too many offensive rebounds
A common theme with the Celtics was their ability to force the Pistons into a lot of bad shots. Unfortunately, they could not grab the rebound which led to second chance points for Detroit on what felt like every play. It wasn’t that bad looking at the numbers as the Pistons grabbed 12 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second chance points, but Boston’s lack of rebounding would come at the worst possible times.
There isn’t a better example of this than when at the 10:17 mark of the 4th quarter, the Celtics forced Cade Cunningham into a bad three point attempt. The ball went off of the side of the rim and bounce all the way back to the three point line where Isaiah Stewart got the offensive rebound and threw a quick pass to Tobias Harris who would miss another three. However, the ball again was rebounded by Detroit and Harris was able to hit a floater over Queta and forced the Celtics to call a timeout where I’m sure Joe Mazzulla was not happy.
9. Cade Cunningham is so good
After the last Celtics game vs. the Pistons, I wrote in the 10 Takeaways that I was really impressed with Cade Cunningham and I think he is a superstar in this league. Last night just confirmed what I already knew but it still amazes me when I watch him play. He finished with 32 points and 10 assists on 11-21 FG and 6-10 3PM. Even when he picked up his fifth foul and had to sit in the 4th quarter, he was able to come back and deliver the dagger to Boston.
Cunningham had back-to-back sequences where he was able to pull up to his spot in the midrange and hit two daggers over Derrick White. The second one blew me away when I watched it as he hit White with a spin move into a turnaround jump shot so fast that I couldn’t even be mad about it — I was just stunned by how effortlessly he made a shot that looked insane.
I really think Cade Cunningham is going to be an MVP in the NBA by the time his career is over and if the Pistons stay at the #1 seed this season, he should be top-3 in the voting easily. He is just an incredible player and I love to see his battles vs. the Celtics.
10. Need a Celtics vs. Pistons Playoff Series
This game was the 3rd time the Celtics and Pistons have faced off this season and the 3rd time it has been an incredible game that was down to the wire. When I watch them play I can’t help but think I need to see a 7-game series of this in the playoffs this year. Both teams just feel so evenly matched and can play both a gritty, defensive slugfest and a high-powered offensive attack that any basketball fan will love.
They play each other one more time this season on January 19th and although I doubt Tatum will be back for it, I really want to see how the Celtics would stack up to the Pistons if they were at full strength. If they met in the playoffs I am sure Tatum would be back by then and I think it will make for some of the most entertaining basketball we will see.
