The Detroit Pistons are looking for revenge in Boston.
It’s not going to get any easier. After getting shot out of the Little Caesars Arena by a scorching Milwaukee Bucks team, the Detroit Pistons take on the 50-3-a-game Boston Celtics . The defending champs defeated Detroit 124-118 in a highly competitive contest on Oct. 26. The Pistons want to get back on the positive side, and an upset here could do wonders after fumbling their opportunity to have a chance to play in Vegas. Alternatively, the Pistons are on a back-to-back, and the Celtics are at home and used their day off to see what the Milwaukee Bucks did to Detroit. Boston’s players had the time to think longingly about how they could do everything Milwaukee did, but better.
Game Vitals
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston MA
Watch: Fan Duel Sports Network Detroit
Odds: Pistons (+13.5)
Analysis
The defensive identity has been established under JB Bickerstaff, but the Bucks game was a complete collapse. Milwaukee was scorching from 3, but you add fuel to the fire when you allow them to shoot 23 wide-open looks.
Boston will burn you if you give them those looks. This Celtics team is on pace to have the highest three-point rate in league history. They are led by the usual suspects, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, etc., and Payton Pritchard has turned himself into an impactful contributor—he’s second on the Celtics with 78 3P makes (5th in NBA).
The Pistons’ No. 1 3P shooter is Malik Beasley, with 79 makes; he’s right in the mix with Tatum’s 83 triples and White’s 77. Beasley is holding it down for Detroit, but math is math. The math makes it nearly impossible to compete with Boston if you don’t get up enough *quality* 3s. Detroit has shot 40+ 3s 3 times this season— each game ended in the L column, and their offense never topped a 116.7 rating in the three contests.
Detroit’s best offense isn’t forcing shots from 3, even though you’d think Detroit has to keep pace with Boston and fire at a similar rate from deep. But these need to be good 3s that come in the flow of the offense. You want to keep pace, but forcing and rushing shots is a wasted possession.
Could Detroit muck up the game and limit the possessions? They’ve been a team that can control the game’s pace for stretches when locked in. It’s possible. I’d imagine the guys are eager to redeem themselves after being bullied by Giannis and company. There’s no better way than to upset the reigning champs.
The defense has been the calling card. The Ausar Thompson matchup with either of the Jays will be cinematic. Thompson is slowly getting better and better since returning to the lineup. He’s a walking paint touch, and that lob he caught from Cade Cunningham last night is the vision.
Last night was ugly but this was art
Ausar can act as a roll man or ball handler in the PnR. He raised up fearlessly with Giannis on the backside pic.twitter.com/IwfeEvfE4x
— Brennan Sims (@SmokeSolezNBA) December 4, 2024
Thompson operates as a do-it-all Swiss Army knife, playing off Cade or Jaden Ivey (or initiating offense with certain lineups).
Ivey wasn’t his blistering self last night. These games happen in an 82-game season, but he had the answers to the Boston quiz in the previous matchup. Ivey had 26/5/6 in late October against the C’s. He turned on the jets against All-Defense defenders Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. Those guys are coming off a rest day, but Ivey has to bring it. These are the games that you prove your worth.
While the Pistons are still turning the ball over at an alarming rate, the Celtics don’t generate turnovers like the Pistons cough them up— Boston is 22nd in defensive turnover percentage per Cleaning The Glass. Detroit has to slow the game down, muck it up, and limit the careless TOs. Limiting the turnovers starts with Cade, who had ten turnovers in the past two games. He’s shooting 58% from three in that stretch, and that shot-making will be needed at TD Garden.
This game falls between the Milwaukee Bucks’ game last night and the New York Knicks ’ matchup Saturday night. Those are three killer teams in a row, but the Pistons can continue to prove they aren’t last year’s pushovers with some upsets.
Projected Lineups
Detroit Pistons (9-14)
Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren
Boston Celtics (17-4)
Jrue Holiday (questionable), Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum (questionable) , Al Horford
Question of the Day
What type of rookie extension would you offer Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren if the season ended tonight?