Detroit Pistons return home from All-Star break to host Boston Celtics

The Pistons return home from the All-Star break Friday to host the Boston Celtics. The Pistons will be looking to take a 2-1 lead in the season-series against the Celtics.

The Detroit Pistons (28-29) will take on the Boston Celtics (40-19) at Little Caesars Arena at 7PM EST Friday night. This is the first game for both teams since returning from the All-Star break.

The Pistons begin the second leg of the NBA season a game and a half out of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Miami Heat (30-28) are the team ahead of the Pistons and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. Therefore, it is important that the Pistons get off to a good start in this second half of the season if they hope to make the playoffs.

The Celtics sit comfortably as the second seed in the Eastern Conference but lost three games in a row leading into the All-Star break.

The Pistons won the first matchup in Boston 118-108 back in November when the Pistons appeared locked in as a top-5 team in the East. They lost to the Celtics 91-81 in Detroit in December, but are now an entirely new team with Blake Griffin in the lineup. Griffin averaged 22 points, eight rebounds and almost six assists the first half of the season.

Andre Drummond is coming off a solid performance in his second career All-Star game Sunday. Drummond had 14 points on seven shots.

Drummond tends to play well against the Celtics despite the unique challenges big men Al Horford and Aron Baynes can present. Drummond is averaging 16 points, 18.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the two games against the Celtics this season.

Reggie Jackson continues to progress in his rehab, but is still not expected to return any time in the next few weeks. Therefore, it remains to be seen how strong a grip Ish Smith has on the starting job ahead of Jameer Nelson and Langston Galloway. Smith struggled to run the offense heading into the break despite his 22 point game against the Atlanta Hawks. Hopefully for the Pistons, Stan Van Gundy has had time over the break to figure out how to run this offense with Ish and Blake Griffin together.

Smith will have his hands full against Boston’s star, Kyrie Irving. Irving is averaging just under 25 points per game and adding five assists. However, Irving is only averaging 17 points against the Pistons this season.

Whoever the Pistons have in the backcourt will likely have to deal with not only Kyrie Irving, but Marcus Smart as well. Smart is expected to play for after missing 11 games due to a hand laceration. Smart’s defense, and unpredictable offense present a considerable problem for Pistons guards. Smart averaged a plus-minus of +10 coming off the bench against the Pistons this season.

Another fun matchup to watch will be that between the talented young forwards for both teams. Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson have looked like completely new players since the Blake Griffin trade. Bullock is averaging 14 points and almost four rebounds in the month of February. Johnson had a career high 26 points the day of the Griffin trade, and is averaging 12 points in the month of February.

Those two will be trying to slow down Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum of the Celtics. After Gordon Hayward‘s injury on opening night, these two have had to step up and become key contributors for Celtics Head Coach, Brad Stevens. Brown is in his second year and averaging 14 points and five rebounds this season. The rookie out of Duke, Tatum, is averaging 13.5 points and five rebounds himself.

The Celtics are the first of four tough games the Pistons have to compete in to start the second half of the season. The Pistons will play in Charlotte, in Toronto, and then return home to face the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of the month.