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Celtics 83, Pistons 103
By Marc D'Amico, November 18, 2012
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Key Moment
Every NBA team has a handful of nights each season that can be classified as “one of those nights.” Sunday night’s 103-83 loss to the Pistons in Detroit can be filed into that category for the Boston Celtics.
Playing for the seventh time in 10 days, the Celtics were impressive in the first quarter while displaying energy and efficient ball. They shot 62.5 percent in the first frame and held onto a 25-23 lead after the first 12 minutes.
That was about the last moment of the game where we saw any energy or efficiency from Boston. The wheels fell off, and in a hurry, as the contest moved into the second quarter.
The Celtics resorted to one-on-one basketball and almost all of their missed shots bounced off of the front of the rim. As Kyle Draper of CSNNE reported on tonight’s telecast, Doc Rivers pointed that fact out to his players and the players admitted that it was a sign of their tired legs.
Those tired legs continued to show for the remainder of the contest. Boston’s offense totaled just 12 assists in the game and the C’s shot just 40 percent from the field over the final three quarters.
Detroit may not be a very good basketball team, but it is still comprised of NBA players. Those players are talented enough to take advantage of a winded Celtics team that just didn’t have it tonight. Kudos to the Pistons for doing so during Boston’s underwhelming performance.
Key Box Score Line
As we outlined in Sunday’s game preview, there is one player on Detroit’s roster who stands above all others. His name is Greg Monroe.
Monroe is carving a niche in this league as one of the top centers around. He added more evidence to that claim Sunday night as he racked up game-high totals of 20 points and 13 boards against the C’s. Monroe also shot an incredible 8-for-11 from the field against Boston’s well-known defense.
Monroe played like an All-Star Sunday night against the Celtics. He was the driving force behind an impressive upset victory by the Pistons.
pull_boxscore_line("Monroe, Greg","20121118/BOSDET");
Box Score Nuggets
- One day after totaling 37 assists against Toronto, the Celtics totaled just 12 against the Pistons.
- Rajon Rondo's streak of consecutive double-digit assist performances continued with his game-high 10 helpers.
- Boston shot just 4-for-17 from downtown.
- Greg Monroe's game-high 13 rebounds more than doubled any other player's individual rebound total.
- Monroe also scored a game-high 20 points.
- Jared Sullinger scored a team-high 16 points and also tied for the team high in rebounds with five.
- The Celtics scored just 32 total points in the middle two quarters.
- Boston grabbed just 30 rebounds in the game.
- Only two Pistons players made less than half of their shot attempts.
- The Celtics outscored Detroit 20-4 in fast break points.
Quote of the Night