The shorthanded Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons on the road 117-108 Saturday night at Little Cesar Arena.
Jayson Tatum scored 28 of his season-high 43 points in the second half, to finish 14-of-28 from the field -- including hitting 7-of-14 from deep -- to go along with 10 rebounds and three assists.
Grant Williams notched a double-double of 19 points (7-of-12 shooting), 10 rebounds, while Marcus Smart added 18 points (4-of-10 from behind the arc), 10 assists to help the C's with their sixth straight win and improve to 10-3 on the season.
"That was a chaotic, hectic game, and that's what I thrive on," Smart said in his postgame presser. "We were short-handed tonight, but a lot of guys stepped up and made it a real team effort."
The Celtics were without Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring tightness) again, Jaylen Brown (knee) and Al Horford (back) on a second night of a back-to-back.
"With it being the second half of a back-to-back, and (Brown's) knee having less than 24 hours to heal, we decided it was the best move to get him out for tonight," Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzula said during his postgame comments. "We're hoping he'll be ready for Monday."
Bojan Bogdanovic led Detroit with 28 points on 9-of-15 from the floor and rookie Jaden Ivey had 26 points. Killian Hayes chipped in 15 points for the 3-11 Pistons, who lost to Boston for the second time in four days and were playing without Cade Cunningham.
The Celtics trailed 57-55 at the break, despite the Pistons only connecting on 32% of their 2-pointers, but shot 47.4% (9-of-19) from long-distance -- while Boston had a 20-12 advantage when it came to points in the paint and were 7-of-24 from 3-point territory.
Tatum scored 15 of the Celtics' 34 points in the third quarter and Bogdanovic added nine to the Pistons' 24-point output in the period, as Boston was ahead 89-81 heading into the final frame.
Derick White (12 points) nailed a dagger 3-pointer -- his only make of the night -- with 1:44 left to play, putting the Celtics up 115-104 and handing Detroit their sixth loss over the last eight outings.
Boston returns to TD Garden on Monday night to host the Oklahoma City Thunder (6-7), with a 7:30 ET tip-off on NBA TV.
Game Notes:
The Celtics were 42.9% from the floor and 18-of-48 (37.5%) from 3, while Detroit was held to 41.6% from the field, but hit 16-of-38 (42.1%) from the deep. Boston handed out 27 assists on 39 made shots and the Pistons had 23 assists on 37 baskets. The C's won the battle in the paint 36-30, but were out-rebounded 50-42.
Joel Pavón
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