Detroit Pistons: The most satisfying win of the 2021-22 season

The Detroit Pistons had just 23 wins in the 2021-22 season and a lot of them were against bad teams.

The Pistons did win 12 games against eventual playoff/play-in teams, including wins over Eastern Conference Finalists Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz. But seven of those quality wins came against the Raptors (who the Pistons own in the Dwane Casey era), Hawks and Cavaliers, who were 8th and 9th, respectively.

The rest of their wins came against the likes of the Magic, Rockets, Pacers and Kings, fellow cellar dwellers, so the wins against the good teams were special, particularly the one against the Celtics.

I hate the Celtics, so it was nice to get a win over them, especially considering the context of the game.

Yesterday we looked at the most surprising win over the season, but this win against the Boston Celtics was definitely the most satisfying from the perspective of an old fan who grew up cheering against the dreaded Celtics.

Detroit Pistons: Two streaks ended against the Celtics

The Detroit Pistons had several long losing streaks in the 2021-22 season, including a 14 game slide that seemed like it might never end.

Coming into this game, the Pistons had lost eight straight and the Celtics (who were really starting to look like the Finals team we’re seeing now) were riding high on a nine game winning streak, trying to make it 10 as they headed into the All-Star break.

The game was back and forth, with a ton of big shots and plays in the 4th quarter, including a possible game-saving block by Cade Cunningham in the final minute, a huge step-back 3-pointer from Saddiq Bey and an eventual game winner from Jerami Grant, who carried the Detroit Pistons offensively down the stretch.

Cunningham, Bey and Grant combined for 64 points as the Pistons went head-to-head against an NBA Finalist on the road and got the better of them.

It was the first time the Detroit Pistons had won in over two weeks, and it made it even more satisfying that it came against rival Boston. The win also set the tone for the second half of the season, in which the Detroit Pistons played much better and actually started to look like a decent team.

This 112-111 victory over the Celtics is what got things started and gave fans of the Detroit Pistons some hope that things were starting to turn around.

It was also nice to see rookie Cade Cunningham going head-to-head against All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum in a matchup that should be fun to watch for years to come.