Pistons-Celtics: Quick reactions

A good test of how improved the Detroit Pistons are occured on Saturday, a ‘High Noon’ battle with the NBA’s hottest team, the Boston Celtics. Its only loss in the last 10 games, was to the Pistons before the All-Star break. The Celtics ended up with a hard-fought (literally almost), 113-104, victory, but they were made to earn it.

A steal and dunk by Killian Hayes put the Pistons up, 88-85, with eight minutes to go. Boston, basically, hit every shot they put up in the next four minutes. The Celtics went on a 17-4 run to take control of the game. However, Detroit kept fighting and cut the deficit to a little as six points.

Here are some quick reactions to the contest:

• Boston had not trailed ever in its previous five road games. The Pistons jumped on them at the start, taking a 10-4 lead, so that streak went up in flames quickly.
• While the Celtics could claim they were blindsided the last game, when they lost to Detroit, coming off a big win in Philadelphia, this time they would have no excuses. The fact the Pistons were competitive against a playoff team not taking them lightly is a good sign.
• Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 25 points and Marvin Bagley III scored 14 in 18 minutes: And for fun, here is a Cunningham lob pass to Bagley III:

• The Celtics did not use this game against a last-place team to test its depth. Boston only used eight players and three, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford, played over 35 minutes. Sub Payton Pritchard scored 19 points, or the Celtics probably do not win this game.
• Detroit made 19 of 22 foul shots, which is good. Not counting Cory Joseph, who has turned into a mini-Steph Curry of late, the rest of the team was 5-for-24 on three-pointers (Yikes!), with Jerami Grant a big 0-for-6.
• Turnovers are still killing the Pistons. Boston scored 21 points off of turnovers to 11 for the Pistons. Detroit lost by nine, figure the math out.

There was chippiness in this game, good to see the Pistons not backing down:

• Hamidou Diallo was ejected in the second quarter for shoving an official while making his way upcourt. It was a bit bizarre as Diallo did not seem that angry with the refs beforehand. It seemed more like he saw someone near him, and brushed him away.
• Shortly after Diallo’s ejection, there was a scrap between Isaiah Stewart and the Celtics’ Marcus Smart, a well-known instigator. While Stewart went after LeBron James in a similar situation, this time he stepped away. Having gotten hit with a two-game suspension because of that incident, he knew the penalty would be harsher if a scuffle ensued. Stewart still got hit with a ‘T’ but he showed maturity.
• Cade Cunningham got hit with his 5th foul with eight minutes to go in the game. It was not an optimal time to have it happen. Boston immediately went on a run, but he lasted the game without fouling out, which is another good sign of growing maturity.

It was an entertaining game, and Boston was determined not to lose to the Pistons again. Next up is a Sunday game against another red-hot team, Charlotte, which just crushed the Toronto Raptors.