The Detroit Pistons deliver an epic rally, but cannot defeat the Boston Celtics

During the Boston Celtics' media day, Jaylen Brown threw an unprompted jab at the Detroit Pistons.

“On a night we play, it doesn’t mean respecting them, it means respecting the Detroit Pistons, who have struggled the last year or two,” said Brown, a three-time All-Star. “We’re going to play through Payton (Pritchard) and let him go 30 times. We're going to play through Sam (Hauser) and have him shoot 10 3s tonight. We're still going to win the game.” But the reality wasn't the walk in the park Brown expected. The Pistons, trailing 67-44 midway through the second quarter, used a spirited run in the third quarter to take control of the game. With five minutes left, they had turned a 23-point deficit into a six-point lead.

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However, the Celtics prevailed. A late 8-0 run gave them the lead for good as the Pistons lost 124-118 and fell to 0-3 on the season. The Pistons were led by Jaden Ivey (26 points, six assists) and Cade Cunningham (21 points, 10 assists). Malik Beasley added 17 points.

They held the Celtics to six made 3-point shots in the second half after hitting 16 in the first half. Jayson Tatum, who scored 17 points in the first quarter, finished with 37. Brown scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Pritchard scored 19 and Al Horford and Derrick White had 17 each.

The Pistons withstand 3-point fire and gather in the third area

Tatum started the night hot, hitting three three-pointers in the first six minutes of the game. The Celtics, who tied the NBA record for most 3-pointers made with 29 against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, were just getting started.

They hit nine 3-pointers in the first quarter and 16 total in the first half and threatened to make history again by repeatedly punishing a Pistons team that struggled to find its way around screens to challenge shooters. Tatum and Horford each knocked down five 3-pointers, and Pritchard accounted for four more. Many of the experiments were completely open.

The Celtics eventually settled down and missed their final four 3-point attempts of the half. Brown hit his 17th triple with 10:45 left in the third. Their next 3 didn't come until nearly 10 minutes later and the Pistons took control of the game.

A 26-8 run gave the Pistons their first lead of the night, 88-86, with 3:01 left in the quarter. The run was sparked by Cunningham, who drove up the middle and unleashed a poster dunk to Derrick White that brought the crowd to its feet.

Cunningham led the run, dished out four assists and scored six points in the third period. Consecutive feeds to Jalen Duren — one an alley-oop, the other a dunk — brought the Pistons within four points. In between dunks, Duren made one of his strongest defensive plays of the night, fending off a push to the rim from Brown and hitting him in the air with verticality.

Simone Fontecchio tied the game at 86 with a 3-pointer, and a tip-in from Stewart gave the Pistons their first lead of the night after 3 minutes. However, with five minutes to go they could no longer maintain their six-point lead. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Jrue Holiday tied the game at 112, and the Celtics outscored the Pistons 10-4 the rest of the game.

Beasley increases the value of Pistons

The veteran sharpshooter has done exactly what was asked of him in three games. He failed five of his 12 attempts from three in Games 1 and 2 before having his strongest night of the season on Saturday.

Beasley scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left that brought the Pistons within one point, 118-117. On the night, Beasley made five of his seven attempts to lead the team.

Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him @omarisankofa.

The Pistons withstand 3-point fire and gather in the third area

Beasley increases the value of Pistons

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