OSTON — The Celtics almost became the answer to an unfortunate trivia question Thursday night. Boston nearly let the lowly Pistons end their 27-game losing streak at TD Garden.
The team with the best record in the NBA fell behind the worst team in the NBA — one that hasn’t won a game since late October — by 21 points in the first half. The Celtics made a furious comeback in the third and led by six points with less than two minutes to play, but then let the Pistons back by doing what plagued them throughout the game: Committing turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds.
It was not the best of nights for the Celtics, who were ultimately victorious in overtime thanks to heroics from Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, and some all-around play by Jayson Tatum. Without Jaylen Brown, Boston needed all three of them to be at their best in that extra five-minute frame.
But it should have never come to that against the now 2-29 Detroit Pistons. The Celtics were due for a letdown in their first game back from a successful 3-1 West Coast trip, but not that kind of letdown. Not covering the 17.5-point spread was acceptable, but losing to these Pistons would have been an embarrassing shock to the system.
How did it get that bad Thursday night? The Celtics looked much more like last year’s frustrating squad in the first half, settling for threes instead of attacking the basket. Boston was just 4-for-24 from downtown over the first 24 minutes, and 18-for-46 overall. The 47 points that the Celtics scored were a season-low for the first half this season.
The defense was not much better, as the C’s continually fell asleep on their defensive rotations and allowed easy and open looks. That allowed the Pistons to shoot 61.4 percent and drop 66 points in the first half, the most Detroit has scored over the first 24 minutes all season.
Tatum had 16 points at the break, but did so on 5-for-14 shooting and was a dreadful 2-for-8 from deep. White was just 1-for-5 and went into the locker room with just two points after one of the worst halves of his career.
But after shaking off their daze at halftime, the Celtics responded in a big way in the third quarter. They erased their 19-point halftime deficit by winning the third, 35-16. Tatum and Porzingis outscored the Pistons on their own, with 23 combined points in the frame.
The Pistons had no answer for Porzingis all night, and he continued to punish them in the fourth and overtime. He dominated the post and hit six of his 10 shots to close out the game, dropping 17 points in the fourth and overtime. White also found his groove, scoring 16 points of his own over the final 17 minutes, hitting six of his eight shots. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor and added three free throws in OT.
THE BOSTON CELTICS MOST FRUSTRATING LOSS THIS SEASON
