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Key Moment
Ime Udoka called a timeout with 58.7 seconds left in the third quarter of Friday night’s matchup with the Detroit Pistons. Then the game changed. It was that simple.
Boston scored the game’s next 11 points, including the final four of the of the third period, and the first seven of the fourth to take control of the contest. That spurt provided the Celtics with a 99-90 lead with 9:44 left in the game and forced Detroit into taking what it hoped to be a momentum-stopping timeout.
That hope was fruitless.
The Celtics maintained a lead for the remainder of the contest. In fact, that advantage never dropped below five the rest of the way, and it rose to as many as 18 before Boston closed out a 114-103 win.
Jayson Tatum got the game-changing run started after Udoka’s timeout by putting home a jumper off a pass from Marcus Smart. Derrick White then dropped in a layup to close out the third quarter’s scoring.
Tatum and Horford then combined to score the first seven points of the final period. Tatum grabbed a steal and went coast-to-coast for an impressive, and-one finish before finding Horford for a layup 38 seconds later. Horford closed out the run with yet another layup, off yet another assist from Tatum.
All in all, Tatum scored or assisted on nine of Boston’s 11 points during the run to fuel Boston’s surge.
Key Player
Marcus Smart is a very, very smart basketball player.
His basketball IQ is what allowed him to grab a game-high five steals while also dishing out five assists compared to only one turnover. Among Celtics who dished out more than three helpers, only Jayson Tatum (six assists, one turnover) logged a better assist-to-turnover ratio.
Shooting was also a strength for Smart during this game. He made six of his 10 field goals, two of his three 3-pointers, and six of his seven free-throw attempts en route to 20 points.
That, folks, is Smart basketball.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum (31 points), Jaylen Brown (22 points) and Marcus Smart (20 points) all broke the 20-point barrier as starters for the C's.
- Boston held Detroit without a fourth-quarter until the final 30 seconds of the period.
- Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 27 points.
- Tatum and three Pistons (Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Cory Joseph) tied for the game high in assists with six apiece.
- Each team had three starters score at least 20 points.
- Four of Boston's five starters grabbed at least seven rebounds, led by nine by Robert Williams.
- The Celtics outscored Detroit in the paint by a count of 68-44.
- Marvin Bagley III logged the game's only double-double with 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
- Boston won handily despite shooting just 6-for-32 (18.8 percent) from long range.
- Brown and Williams led the game in plus/minus rating at plus-18.
Quote of the Night
Ime Udoka on Kevin Garnett's upcoming jersey retirement ceremony on Sunday