Key Moment
Something clicked for the Boston Celtics early in the third quarter of Monday night’s matchup with the Pistons. A minute and a half later, the C’s had left Detroit in the dust.
Boston required only 96 seconds to rattle off an 11-0 run that gave it control of the game for the remainder of the night. That spurt turned what was a five-point game into a 16-point game, and that lead remained in a comfortable zone for the rest of the contest.
Derrick White and Jayson Tatum were the stars of the run, as they scored or assisted on all 11 points. White got it all going with an assist to Robert Williams for a layup and then followed up with a driving, and-one bucket of his own to make it 65-55 with 9:43 remaining in the frame. Tatum then closed things out with back-to-back makes from long distance to push the lead out to 16 at the 8:52 mark.
Boston shot 4-for-4 from the field during its game-changing run. Detroit, meanwhile, missed all four of its shots as the C’s pulled away.
Credit where credit is due, though – the Pistons did make a brief run to cut Boston’s lead to six on multiple occasions early on in the fourth, but the NBA’s top team quickly regained momentum and closed out a 111-99 victory.
Key Player
Derrick White was awesome Monday night. It’s as simple as that.
The versatile guard put up 23 points on 8-for-17 shooting to tie his highest point total of the 2023 calendar year. He also scored 23 points on Jan. 24 against Miami.
White’s contributions went far beyond the scoring column as well. He also led Boston with seven assists and added in seven rebounds.
All of those stats are impressive, but there are two more that would be considered by many to be even more impressive. White led the team in assists while committing only one turnover. He also finished with the top plus/minus rating of the game at plus-20.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum scored 22 of his 34 points during the second half.
- All five of Boston's starters logged a plus/minus rating of at least plus-11.
- Boston led by as any as 23 points, while Detroit's largest lead was just two points.
- Robert Williams logged a monster double-double with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
- Tatum logged his 22nd double-double of the season with 11 rebounds to go along with his game-high 34 points.
- Bojan Bogdanovic led Detroit with 21 points.
- Each team had five players score in double-figures.
- Malcolm Brogdon led all reserves with 16 points.
- Despite Brogdon's efforts, Detroit's bench outscored Boston's bench 42-21.
- Sam Hauser scored 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting from long distance.
- Boston made 16 shots from long distance, while Detroit made only nine.
- The C's made two more shots (39) than Detroit (37) despite attempting five fewer (82 to Detroit's 87).
Quote of the Night
"I just had to wake up a little bit. I started off a little slow, and I just had to get myself going, because in the first half I was stinking it up."
- Jayson Tatum on what led to his big second half of scoring