On Monday night, the Boston Celtics, who are currently holding the best record in the NBA, will take on the visiting Detroit Pistons.
Boston (53-14) defeated the Washington Wizards 130-104 on the road on Sunday, extending their winning streak to five games despite the absence of three players. The Celtics were without guards Derrick White (hand) and Jaylen Brown (ankle), as well as centre Kristaps Porzingis (right hamstring strain). The last five games that Boston has played without Porzingis.
Sam Hauser scored thirty points and made ten of his thirteen 3-point tries before leaving the game in the third quarter due to an ankle injury. In the victory, Payton Pritchard recorded a career-high 13 assists.
“Just trying to play the right type of basketball—what we’ve been trying to do all year,” Pritchard stated. “I’m constantly trying to get my guys easy shots when I have the ball in my hands. Sam is one of the best shooters in the league, so whenever he’s available, we have to go get him, as I tell people all the time. It operates practically automatically. It was a solid team victory.
Al Horford of Boston, a centre, is unlikely to play on Monday since he hasn’t participated in back-to-back games this year.
The Wizards and Pistons are fighting to avoid the NBA cellar. The Wizards (11-57), who have the worst record in the NBA, are one slot below the Pistons (12-55) in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit is recovering after a 104-101 home loss to Miami on Sunday. For the Pistons, Evan Fournier scored a game-high 18 points. For Detroit, Cade Cunningham finished with 17 points and 9 assists, but he was just 1 for 6 from outside the 3-point line.
Bam Adebayo’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave Miami the victory.
Pistons coach Monty Williams remarked, “It’s hard to come down on the guys about anything when you lose a game like that.” “When it didn’t look good, we fought. Our defensive play in certain instances paid off, as we held them to 25 points in the fourth quarter. The 44 points we scored in the second half speak for themselves. We were at home with a chance to win a major game.”
Duncan Robinson of Miami scored thirty points and made seven of his twelve 3-pointers. In the second quarter, the Heat defeated the Pistons 39–27. On Friday, Miami defeated Detroit 108-95 as well.
“It wasn’t so much our scheme as it was our awareness of who was hot in the situation,” Williams stated. “We didn’t transition well onto Robinson, who just hit shot after shot. He even made purchases at the basket, which is not his specialty. In the second, we were largely unaware of his capacity to score.
We need to play as a more cohesive team. During the last shootaround, we discussed how maintaining consistency aids in maintaining your rhythm. Simply put, we haven’t played with much consistency the past two games.”
This season’s second meeting between the Celtics and Pistons will take place on Monday. On December 28, Boston defeated the Lakers 128-122 in overtime after surmounting a 21-point deficit. In their most recent matchup, Porzingis scored 35 points to lead all scorers, and White scored 10 of his 23 points in overtime. Cunningham led Detroit with 31 points and nine rebounds.
Additionally, the teams will play one another in Detroit on Friday night.
