Ausar Thompson shows he was right in blowout over Celtics

The Detroit Pistons had lost 12 straight to the Boston Celtics entering tonight, but these aren’t those Pistons. 

Detroit dismantled the defending champions, holding them under 100 points, and simply outworking and outhustling them from the tip off. 

The Pistons were on the floor all night, getting deflections, flashing into the passing lane for steals and making life tough for Boston. 

Detroit had 13 steals as a team, headlined by Ausar Thompson (more in him in a minute) but everyone was in on the action, as the Pistons dominated every facet of the game other than 3-point shooting. 

Speaking of 3-point shooting, literally no lead seems safe against this Celtics team, as they can flat-out shoot it, but it wasn’t enough tonight. 

The Pistons scored 62 points in the paint to just 20 for Boston, dominated the glass, and forced 19 turnovers that led to 24 points. The Pistons were running all night, scoring an incredible 29 fast break points to just eight for Boston. 

The tone was set by Ausar Thompson, who was a one-man agent of chaos on defense and showed the Boston Celtics that he might be right. 

Ausar Thompson injury update: Only a calf cramp could slow down Ausar 

Thompson had to leave the game with what is being called a calf cramp, but he did walk off the floor on his own and was back on the bench by the end of it.

Luckily it didn’t matter, as Boston waved the white flag soon after and emptied their bench. 

Thompson hounded Jayson Tatum all night, and even though Tatum did have 27 points, he was forced into a lot of tough shots, mostly because Thompson wasn’t letting him breath. 

He was getting his hands on everything and just wrecking the Celtics in the half court, often leading to easy bucket for the Pistons. These highlights would be an apt summary of his night: 

Thompson ended with seven points, six rebounds and five steals (it seemed like more) and his defense was contagious, as all of the Pistons were getting deflections and flying around, following his lead. 

Recently, Ausar Thompson declared himself the best perimeter defender in the league and it would be hard not to agree with him after watching tonight’s game. 

Boston was on the second game of a back-to-back, so it was clear the Pistons strategy was to outwork them, run and try to wear them down, which they eventually did. The 3-pointers stopped falling with such regularity (seriously, does Boston have a single guy who can’t shoot?) and the Pistons were able to pull away late. 

There is plenty to talk about, as the Pistons’ bench was outstanding tonight, led by Malik Beasley, who continues to be the best 3-point shooter in the league. He just hits daggers. 

Ron Holland II had some nice hustle plays and finishes around the rim and shoutout to Marcus Sasser, who never knows when or if he is going to play but always gives a professional effort.  

The Pistons are a team in the truest sense of the word and there is something special happening in Detroit.