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BOSTON – Even on nights when their defense isn’t totally locked in from the opening tip, the Boston Celtics can still turn up the intensity on that end in an instant and turn the tide of a game.
Such was the case Friday night when Boston allowed Detroit to score 90 points through the first three quarters of action at TD Garden, before holding the Pistons to 13 points in the final frame and walking away with a 114-103 win.
The Celtics struggled against Detroit’s physicality throughout most of the game, as they surrendered 34 points in the first quarter and 28 points in each of the middle frames.
Trailing 62-61 at halftime, head coach Ime Udoka emphasized to his players that they needed to match their opponent’s tenacity and try to limit the scoring of rookie Cade Cunningham, who had 18 points at the break. Boston responded by holding the Pistons to 41 second-half points and cutting Cunningham’s scoring production in half for the remainder of the game.
The fourth quarter was one of the most impressive defensive periods of the season for the Celtics, as they held Detroit without a field-goal make for the first 11:30 of the frame. It wasn’t until the final 30 seconds of garbage time that the Pistons found the bottom of the net twice, as they finished the frame 2-of-15 from the field.
“The clips that we watched, and what we were seeing in the first half, they were too comfortable,” Udoka said. “Cunningham is a hell of a player, obviously, and he was going to work a little bit, but we got better as the game went on. Jerami Grant just teeing up shots, pick-up points were too low, not paying attention to detail on certain guys, and so we wanted to increase our physicality first off, and then we junked it up a little bit, went after them, and sometimes that sparks some energy with the rotations, blitzing guys, taking it out of their hands. It came at the right time.”
Although the Pistons have one of the worst records in the league, they’ve given Boston some trouble this season. Each of their first three matchups were decided by single digits, and Friday’s game was tight all the way up to the final frame.
“They are a lot better than their record says and they’ve got some guys that can go,” claimed Marcus Smart, who finished with 20 points, five assists, and five steals. “When you are playing a team like that with the roll that we've been on, sometimes there are games that are going to be a grind. They made it a grind. We just got our second wind in the second half and turned up the heat.”
Even though the first three quarters weren’t pretty, Udoka said there can be benefits to having to grind out tough wins, knowing that these are the types of games they’ll be seeing in the playoffs.
“You don't want it easy every night,” Udoka said. “You have to figure out ways to win and score and defend against certain matchups. Every team has a different style. So this one, size-wise and physicality-wise, matches up well with us. I'm happy we could figure out how to get it done, keep our composure, play through and lock in defensively when we needed to."
The Celtics were also locked in on the offensive end, especially around the basket. They shot 62.1 percent from inside the 3-point arc, scored 68 points in the paint, and made 30 trips to the free-throw line. They also had three scorers reach the 20-point mark, led by Jayson Tatum’s 31-point effort.
Once Boston’s defense caught up with its offense, Detroit was done for.
“We can lock in at times when we need to, and to hold them to single digits for the most part in that last quarter was impressive,” said Udoka. “It came at the right time.”