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Key Moment
Hectic is probably an understatement to describe the final moments of Saturday night’s matchup between the Celtics and the Pistons, which Boston won by a score of 94-92.
First, the Celtics went ahead by three with 30.5 seconds left.
Then the Pistons tied the game with 23.2 seconds left.
Then the Celtics failed to connect on a potential game-winning 3 from the right corner.
And lastly, Boston crashed the glass with a fury to grab the win.
Jae Crowder misfired on his corner 3 off a drive-and-kick from Isaiah Thomas with 4.3 seconds left, but Marcus Smart flew into the land of the trees to grab the miss and attempt a putback bucket all in one motion. Unfortunately, his attempt was off the mark. Fortunately, that didn’t wind up mattering.
What mattered was the fact that Al Horford was standing nearby to follow up Smart’s miss with a putback of his own that fell through the hoop with 1.3 seconds left. Horford’s putback gave Boston a 94-92 lead.
Detroit called for a timeout to draw up a potential game-tying or game-winning play, but instead of getting the ball into the hands of one of their top players on the ensuing possession, the Pistons gave the ball to Aron Baynes. Baynes was caught in no-man’s land and was forced to attempt a jumper from the left elbow as time expired. Horford was right in his face the whole way and was able to block his third shot of the night to secure Boston’s win.
Key Player
You’ll read plenty more about Al Hoford’s big return inside Taylor Snow’s postgame sidebar story. For now, we’ll just break down his box score line.
Horford, playing for the first time since Oct. 29, put forth his best effort in a Boston uniform by notching Celtics career highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds. He also pitched in five assists and three blocks, including a block on the final shot of the game, during Boston’s victory.
As it has been since the start of preseason, it was clear that the Celtics were a much better team while Horford was on the floor. He logged nearly 34 minutes of playing time Saturday night, and during those minutes, Boston outscored Detroit by 16 points. That plus/minus differential was seven points better than any other player’s total in the game.
Box Score Nuggets
- The contest featured 19 lead changes.
- Isaiah Thomas attempted a game-high nine free throws, making eight.
- Thomas tied with Marcus Morris for the game-high in scoring with 24 points.
- Boston canned 12 3-pointers, including a 3-for-3 effort from Jonas Jerebko from beyond the arc.
- Each team's starting center logged a double-double. Al Horford tallied 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Andre Drummond totaled 20 points and 17 rebounds.
- Horford also blocked three shots, falling just one shy of Detroit's team total.
- Horford was the only player in the game to grab more than one steal. He finished with two.
- Thomas dished out a game-high eight assists.
- Boston made 16 of its 17 free throws (94.1 percent), while Detroit made only 11 of its 16 attempts (68.8 percent).
- The teams combined to commit only 15 total turnovers (eight by Boston, seven by Detroit).
- Boston dealt Detroit, which was the last unbeaten team at home, its first home defeat of the season.
Quote of the Night
Jae Crowder on how the team felt after getting back into the win column.