Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons lose 108-105 thriller to Boston Celtics

Finishing out a home-and-home against the Boston Celtics (5-2), the Detroit Pistons (4-2) pushed their old rival to the distance. But once again they fell in defeat, losing 108-105 at the TD Garden on Tuesday.

Things are different for the Detroit Pistons after Tuesday night’s 108-105 loss to the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden.

Sure, a loss is still a loss. As a Pistons’ fan, it’s more useful to look towards the beauty in it. Unlike in Game 1 of the regular season series against the Celtics, the Pistons were truly in it.

Even when Boston began to create distance and played into a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter, Detroit found a way to keep things competitive.

Heck, more than competitive. The Detroit Pistons almost tripped into a victory.

Coach Dwane Casey can stay positive about a few characteristics the team showed Tuesday, and build on some key fundamentals that had been missing in the first five games of the season.

There was an “everybody eats” mentality.

The defensive strategy on the Pistons had become simple: Stop Blake Griffin and that will kill the heart of the offense. From tip-off, the Celtics threw bodies at Griffin when he caught the ball anywhere near the paint.

The All-Star forward was more aggressive, so there were moments when the physicality did not matter. He logged 24 points, 15 rebounds and shot 47.1 percent from the floor. Tuesday’s game was also about key role players that stepped up, even in defeat.

I mentioned a few days ago, in an article about Reggie Bullock’s shooting slump, that he needed to be consistent from the 3-point line for the Pistons to have sustainable success.

It was a rocky start, but Bullock ended the game with three triples and a renewed confidence in his shot. Shooters know that the ball will eventually drop. When it finally does, things like this happen.

He shot a season-best 45.5 percent from the field and put up 16 points. It was not only Bullock that emerged at the end of Tuesday night’s thriller.

Ish Smith, after he went 3-of-11, sunk a 27-footer with under 12 seconds on the clock to bring the Detroit Pistons within one. If he were more consistent offensively, there would be a case for him as an elite guard.

Unfortunately, Smith is a hit or miss. But, it is a nod in the right direction for Detroit that the last shot of the game for him was a hit.

Defensively, Detroit took a couple of steps forward. The execution was not perfect. Reggie Jackson had trouble keeping a lid on Kyrie Irving on the perimeter, and could not stay in front of him.

Yet, it was the collective defense that progressed. As a team, they seemed to better anticipate the Celtics’ offensive movements, forcing 14 Boston turnovers. Bruce Brown set a particular tone with a block on Boston’s Jaylen Brown as well.

However, the Pistons cannot afford to have a player on the floor who is all defense. This is a similar problem fans have with 22-year-old Stanley Johnson. The length and effort are there.

Johnson’s absence directly correlated to how effective Jayson Tatum was throughout the game. But, to supplement the lack of star power on Detroit’s squad, everyone must chip in consistently.

The jury is still out on Brown. He scored 10 points against the Boston Celtics and created his own offense. Brown was constantly on the move off-the-ball, and found gaps in the defense to exploit. It may be a sign of things to come. Let’s temper expectations.

The Detroit Pistons were active as a unit in their second bout with the Celtics.

It’s obvious that the honeymoon stage of the season is over, and the team has found some key weaknesses that the better-defensive teams of the league are ready to expose.

A 26.7 percent 3-point average will not cement the Pistons’ future in the playoffs. The beauty in this is that there’s something to build on.