3 takeaways from the Detroit Pistons 116-103 win over the Boston Celtics

The Detroit Pistons were able to snap their losing streak tonight against the Boston Celtics following a remarkable performance on both ends of the floor.

When a team who’s flirting with a rebuild like the Detroit Pistons are, a team who’s struggling to win basketball games, coming out against one of the best teams in the NBA and putting on an unbelievable display of efficiency serves as a tremendous boost of confidence. It can be difficult not to make any sweeping statements about this team moving forward, but it still feels great.

So how did the Pistons pull this one off?

For the first time since 2006, a team playing on the road in Boston shot over 60 percent from the field. Detroit ended the night at 60.3 percent which included just a 37.5 percent showing from three-point range. The way that the Pistons were able to utilize Derrick Rose on pick and rolls and effectively control the paint was a work of art.

They were regularly able to switch Marcus Smart – one of the league’s best on-ball defenders off of Rose which allowed him to attack the basket with ease. Even in a one-on-one match up, Rose was able to get the better of him. Had the Celtics not been missing Jayson Tatum tonight things may have gone differently, but the Pistons capitalized in a major way.

Rose actually started the game for Detroit and was electric. He finished the night with 22 points on 84 percent shooting.

It’s relatively uncharacteristic of the Celtics to be as careless on defense as they were tonight. They weren’t able to apply pressure to Detroit’s constant driving to the basket, and whenever they were able to, the ball handler would defer to someone along to perimeter – where Boston was continuously losing their man. The Pistons missed a lot of open shots early on, but they kept they stuck to the same game plan for 48 minutes and eventually those shots started falling.

Detroit’s offensive explosion is what won them this game more than anything else. They were +2 in the turnover battle but missed opportunities at the free throw line.