Last Wednesday, the shorthanded Celtics needed to buckle down in the final minutes to secure a competitive victory over the pesky Detroit Pistons.
Boston faced the same scenario eight days later: home game against Detroit without the services of Jayson Tatum, who sat out with a knee injury.
This time around, there was no need for late-game dramatics.
The Celtics throttled the Pistons 123-99 at TD Garden, with six different players scoring in double figures in the rout.
“Whoever is in … has an expectation to do their job, has an expectation to win,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “They don’t miss a beat because of their preparation, their attention to detail. And when guys are out, you can take advantage of different guys’ versatilities.”
Sixth man sensation Payton Pritchard led Boston in points (27) and assists (10) for his first double-double of the season. He and Derrick White (23 points) went a combined 14-for-27 from 3-point range to overpower a Pistons team that shot an ugly 7-for-37 from deep in the loss.
Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal, and frontcourt understudy Luke Kornet delivered one of his best outings of the season with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting and seven rebounds in 13 minutes.
Jaylen Brown, Boston’s centerpiece with Tatum sidelined, took on a complementary role, finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists. But the Celtics outscored the Pistons by 30 points with Brown on the floor, the best mark of any player.
“I thought he set the tone,” Mazzulla said. “Took five shots in the first half, but he made it a point to really push the pace, to create 2-on-1s and find his teammates and be a playmaker. That and his defense. I thought he did a great job of that in the first half, facilitating, getting the ball where it needed to get to. I thought he set the tone with that.”
As the Celtics prepare to travel to Washington for a Sunday night matchup with the Wizards, here are six takeaways from Thursday’s result:
1. Tatum sits
Tatum was inactive for the second time this season, with his first DNP also coming against Detroit last Wednesday. Sitting Tatum, who was listed on Boston’s injury report with right patella tendinopathy, gave the Celtics superstar a full week off between games.
Tatum was on the court during Thursday’s morning shootaround, and Mazzulla said his knee issue is “nothing serious.
The Celtics also were without core reserve Sam Hauser (right adductor strain) and end-of-the-bench guard Jaden Springer (illness). Al Horford and Porzingis both started the game as Mazzulla relied more on double-big lineups.
2. Sluggish start
Neither team found much offensive success in the opening minutes, with Boston and Detroit shooting a combined 4-for-20 to start the game. That early sloppiness prompted Mazzulla to call his first timeout 4 1/2 minutes in despite the Celtics leading 5-4 at the time.
Porzingis, who admitted earlier in the day that he’s still ramping up following his offseason leg surgery, scored those first five points for Boston on a 3-pointer and a dunk. The latter came after a botched double alley-oop with Brown.
3. Kornet brings a spark
The Celtics closed out the first quarter with a 14-2 run fueled by an unlikely scoring source: Kornet. In his first six minutes off the bench, the backup big scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting and grabbed three rebounds, helping Boston stretch its lead to double digits.
Kornet had scored more than eight points in a full game just twice this season. As he stood at the foul line after drawing an and-1 foul, one fan behind the basket broke into a solo “MVP” chant.
“Luke’s physicality was a game-changer for us in the middle of that first quarter on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said.
The 7-footer later added a nifty give-and-go assist to set up a White 3-pointer, a tough layup in traffic and a put-back off a Porzingis miss.
4. Guards power strong second
With Brown playing the role of facilitator, Boston’s backcourt carried the scoring load in the second quarter. White, Jrue Holiday and Pritchard provided 26 of the Celtics’ 32 points in the frame, hitting six threes between them.
Detroit cut Boston’s lead to four midway through the quarter but couldn’t keep pace once the Celtics’ trio of guards got hot. Less than two minutes later, a Holiday three off a Brown steal made it 47-33. It was 59-44 Celtics at halftime, with the Pistons going a woeful 2-for-19 from deep over the first two quarters.
The Pistons stayed in the teams’ previous meeting by converting 20 of their 39 3-pointers. They didn’t come close to replicating that success on Thursday and, as a result, never threatened in the second half.
Brown scored just four first-half points, but he grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists. He asserted himself more after halftime with eight points in the third quarter.
5. White’s bounce-back; Pritchard’s milestone
This was the first 20-point outing in exactly a month for White, who came in shooting 19.2% from three over his previous three games. Despite that mini-slump, this has been a career year for the 30-year-old, who’s making a strong case for his first career All-Star selection.
Pritchard, who continues to pull away in the early race for NBA Sixth Man of the Year, hit his 500th career 3-pointer in the win, becoming just the 10th Celtics player to reach that mark. He also was the first player in franchise history to record at least 25 points, 10 assists and five made threes in a game while coming off the bench.
“What I love about our group is it really can be somebody’s night different nights,” Pritchard said. “Like, KP, could go for 30; JB, 30; JT. Like, that’s what makes it so good. You can’t really game-plan one person. Like, it could be anybody’s night.”
It’s often been Pritchard’s night this season. He leads the NBA in bench scoring and registered at least 19 points in seven of his last eight games.
6. Absences create opportunities
With Tatum and Hauser unavailable, Mazzulla reached deeper into his bench for reinforcements. Two-way player Drew Peterson, a healthy DNP in the previous two games, saw first-quarter minutes. Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta both checked in at the start of the second.
Walsh played sparingly (just six minutes before garbage time) and missed two open corner threes. Peterson received a longer look. He logged 19 minutes and was a plus-12, tallying five points, three rebounds and two assists.
Point guard JD Davison, who’s been tearing up the G League this season but can’t crack Boston’s loaded rotation, played the final six minutes with the Celtics up by 20-plus.
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