The Boston Celtics will be looking to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season when they face the visiting Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
The Celtics haven’t played since they dropped a 127-121 decision to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday at home. Boston overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to take a four-point lead in the fourth quarter but couldn’t keep pace in the final minutes.
“Effort was good,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “You’re down 14, take the lead. In the fourth quarter I felt like we didn’t really have a rhythm to the game, but we were able to take the lead. I thought we kind of just ran out of gas here towards the end.”
It was Boston’s fifth game in seven nights, and the Celtics shot 18 of 60 from 3-point territory.
“These are the games you’ve just gotta fight through it,” Jaylen Brown said. “Tough schedule, but we don’t make any excuses. We know what the journey is about and we’re not skipping any steps. I thought we fought as a team. We didn’t let the rope go. We didn’t give up.”
Sam Hauser, one of Boston’s top reserves, left Saturday’s game in the second quarter with what the team called right adductor tightness. Mazzulla downplayed the injury in his postgame comments, saying, “He’s doing pretty good. He said he’d be OK, but he just wasn’t able to finish (Saturday’s game). But afterwards, he said he was good.”
However, Hauser was listed as doubtful for Thursday’s game. Listed as questionable are All-Star Jayson Tatum (right patella tendiopathy), Jaden Springer (non-COVID illness) and Jordan Walsh (rib contusion).
Cade Cunningham had 29 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to help the Pistons end a three-game losing streak by beating the New York Knicks 120-111 Saturday. Cunningham, Detroit’s first-round draft pick in 2021, is averaging 23.9 points, 9.4 assists and 7.3 rebounds in 21 games this season.
“I try to do whatever it takes to help my team win, and my teammates have made me look great this year,” Cunningham said. “I’m just trying to help my team win and we’ll see what happens with it.”
The Pistons used an 18-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Knicks. Detroit’s Malik Beasley made 7 of 10 3-pointers and finished the game with 23 points.
“We’re trying to build and taking steps,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The hardest thing to do in the NBA is find consistency, whether as an individual or as a team. But it’s the habits we do every single day and, hopefully, (the victory over New York) is another game that’s a big step for us. But we keep seeing the value in those habits and we keep getting better and better.”
Thursday’s matchup will be the third time the Pistons and Celtics have met this season. Boston prevailed 124-118 at Detroit on Oct. 26, and Cunningham had 27 points, nine rebounds and 14 assists when Detroit lost at Boston 130-120 on Dec. 4.
“I don’t say this lightly by any means but being around (Cunningham) and spending time with him — he’s the guy,” Bickerstaff said. “He has the ability to be an elite guy on a basketball team because of all of the things he’s capable of doing. He can manipulate the game, he can score, he can rebound, and he makes his teammates better.”