The Celtics continued to protect their parquet in a 119-94 victory over the Detroit Pistons Monday night.
Jaylen Brown returned from a one-game absence to drop 31 points on 11-of-20 from the field, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range to go along with seven rebounds in just three quarters.
Derrick White notched his first career triple-double of 22 points (6-of-12 from 3-point range), 10 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Celtics improve to 31-3 at home -- including eight consecutive wins at TD Garden.
"I'm not usually one that tries to chase stats or whatnot, but I saw that I was one away," White said in his postgame comments. "I've been close a lot of times, so I wanted to try and get it this time. Shout out to my teammates."
White also recorded his 5,000th career point on a 3-pointer with 9:52 left to play, before finding teammate Payton Pritchard with a 3-ball at the 6:25 mark to get his 10th dime to complete his triple-double.
"I'm happy for him," Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said of White's triple-double. "He's continued to grow as a two-way player on both sides of the ball."
Pritchard also netted 23 points and handed out seven assists in back-to-back starts. Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points, eight rebounds in 22 minutes of action after missing the last five-straight with a hamstring injury.
Boston, without Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Sam Hauser, are now 10-2 on a second night of a back-to-back and are on a six-game win streak.
Jaden Ivey led Detroit, who were without Cade Cunningham in the lineup, with 21 points, five assists while James Wiseman chipped in 12 points off the bench for the 12-56 Pistons.
The Celtics had a 59-47 advantage at the break, before holding Detroit to only 18 points in the third quarter to take a 92-66 lead into the final frame. It turned into a 28-point margin (the largest of the night) on a 13-7 spurt late in the fourth period.
Still, it was White -- who didn't play Monday night against the Washington Wizards due to a hand sprain -- that stole the show, as he got a standing ovation from the Garden faithful when he exited the game.
"I think it's hard not to love him on and off the court," Porzingis told reporters of White. "He's a unique human, a unique player. I can go on and on to give good compliments to D White and who he is."
The Celtics are a league-best 26-1 against teams under .500 and 54-14 overall, will look to keep it rolling when they host the Milwaukee Bucks (44-24) Wednesday. ESPN has the tip-off at 7:30 pm ET.
Game Notes:
Boston connected on 45.3% from the field, including 22-of-49 (44.9%) from behind the arc, while the Pistons were 42.9% from the floor and 9-of-29 (31%) from long distance. The C's out-rebounded the visiting team 53-43 but were outscored in the paint 48-40. The Celtics dished out 30 assists (11 turnovers) on 43 baskets to Detroit's 21 dimes (13 turnovers) on 36 made shots.
Joel Pavón
No comments:
Post a Comment