Celtics throttle Pistons: 3 stars from blowout vs Detroit

The Boston Celtics won against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, 127-109. The Celtics were coming off an Overtime loss against Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks on Valentines Day.

This was their second win in 9 days against the Pistons, as they won 111-99 on February 6th. This win made the Celtics sweep the season series, as they also won both games in November.

In the loss against the Bucks, the C’s were extremely shorthanded. Jaylen Brown was out with his facial injury, Jayson Tatum was out with a non-COVID Illness, Marcus Smart was out for his 12th straight game, and Al Horford was out with knee soreness. Derrick White also suffered an ruptured eardrum during the game.

For this game, Tatum, Horford, and White were all able to play in the win. But, the biggest return of all is Marcus Smart who had it in him to play one more game before the NBA All-Star Break.

However, Robert Williams, who played from the bench in Tuesday game, was out with left ankle soreness. Also, Mike Muscala was out with a knee recovery. Which meant that Blake Griffin started at center while Horford started at power forward. Instead of Smart, White now had to fill in for Brown, and he’s been doing well in that role winning Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week.

Griffin did alright in the starting role, he scored 9 points while grabbing 5 boards. White and Horford each had 11, but these next three players carried the team to victory against the Pistons.

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum catches fire in return

Jayson Tatum played lights out against the Pistons, leading the Celtics in points, rebounds and assists. Tatum had 38 points, 9 rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Tatum greatly improved from his previous game in his shooting. In the win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Super Bowl Sunday he was 3/16 on field goals, which makes a 18.8 percent field goal percentage, and only made 1 three-pointer out of 8. Although he still was in double-figures as Tatum was 9/12 on free throws in the win against the Grizzlies.

In the game against the Pistons, he made 62 percent of his field goals with a 6/10 three-pointers. Also, he only had to get two free throw shots and he made both of them.

The majority of his 38 points came in the third quarter when he scored 24. This was Tatum’s most points in a single quarter, most points in a quarter by a individual player this season, and most points in a third quarter by a Celtics player. His previous record for most points in a quarter was on December 22nd, 2019 against the Charlotte Hornets when he scored 22 points in the 4th quarter in the 119-93 win. The record for most points by a Celtics player in a single quarter is Isiah Thomas scoring 29 points in the 4th quarter of the December 30th, 2016 in the 117-114 win against the Miami Heat.

Also, Tatum had 6/6 on three-pointers in the third quarter, which made him the 2nd Celtic to make at least six three-pointers without a miss in a single quarter. The other was Evan Fournier who went 6/6 in the 4th quarter against the Houston Rockets on April 2nd, 2021

Tatum ended the 1st half of the NBA season with a bang as he’ll be a starter representing the Eastern Conference at the All-Star game this Sunday.

Malcolm Brogdon joins elite company on the bench

Malcolm Brogdon scored 25 points off the bench against the Pistons with 6 assists and 3 rebounds. This is Brogdon’s 2nd straight game with 25+ points off the bench, where he scored 26 points against the Bucks.

This is a first time since Isiah Thomas in December 2015, where a Celtics player has scored 25+ points in back-to-back games off the bench. Brogdon is the 7th Celtics player to accomplish this feat, a list that features legends Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, according to Celtics senior writer Taylor Snow.

Brogdon shot 10/14 on his field goals which includes five from beyond the arc. The point total is his 2nd-highest of the season, where his highest was 30 against the Charlotte Hornets on January 14th.

He reached his hot streak after missing the game against the Grizzlies after suffering his Achilles soreness which he played from in the win against the Charlotte Hornets.

Brogdon will look to continue his hot streak after the All-Star break and hopefully the rest of his teammates will return and will help him succeed.

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart spreads the floor in return

Marcus Smart scored 9 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals. Smart became the first Celtics player to score at least 6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals all in one single game since Rajon Rondo on the March 23rd, 2011 loss to the Grizzlies.

Smart made a mark in his return with many great plays in the game, such as this one.

The 6 steals are the season-high for Smart and is tied for the 2nd highest steal total for his career, in which he also achieved on April 6th, 2017 in the loss to the Atlanta Hawks. His career-high in steals was eight, which was achieved exactly six years to the date on Wednesday, in the win against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 15th, 2017.

The 7 rebounds are tied for a season-high in the category. He achieved this two other times this season, in the December games against the Orlando Magic and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Marcus Smart is certainly back for the Green and his presence has been already felt.

After the All-Star break, the Celtics will be on a three-game road trip against the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, and New York Knicks before heading up back to TD after three-game homestand against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, and the Knicks.