Pistons 112, Celtics 105: Jaylen Brown's 34 points not enough in C's second-straight loss

The Celtics couldn't bounce back Monday night, as they fell to the Detroit Pistons 112-105 at TD Garden for their second straight loss.

Jaylen Brown continued his string of 30-point performances, finishing with 34 points on 13-of-25 shooting and extending his streak to five consecutive games. The All-Star also had eight rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and a steal -- but went 7-of-14 from the free throw line and turned the ball over four times, as he wasn't happy at all with his overall play.

"I got to be better," Brown said in his postgame comments. "I wasn't good enough for my team. I've got to do better to get my team over the hump. In my mind, I didn't have my best game tonight, so that's on me."

Derrick White scored a season-high 31 points on 10-of-18 from the from the field, including 5-of-12 from behind the arc, to go along with six rebounds but also recorded four turnovers. Payton Pritchard was the only other to hit double-figures in points with 12 but on 14 shot attempts and five assists for Boston -- who fell to 15-11 and now fourth in the East.

Cade Cunningham notched a double-double with 32 points (6-of-10 from long distance) and 10 assists despite picking up his fifth foul just prior the midway point of the fourth quarter and sitting before re-entering in the final four minutes to lead the Pistons to an East-leading 21-5 record.

Tobias Harris and Caris LeVert each chipped in 13 points respectively for a well-balanced scoring effort for Detroit, as 10 of the 11 players that checked in registered at least six points or more.

Boston led by 12 in the second period (their largest of the night) before the Pistons grabbed a 103-93 advantage (their largest) with just under six minutes left to play on a Javonte Green steal and breakaway dunk.

The home crowd got back into it when the Celtics used a 9-0 run to make it a single-possession game with 2:47 remaining, but Cunningham knocked down back-to-back jumpers as part of a 9-3 spurt for Detroit to hold on for the win.

"I think my team did enough. I gotta be better down the stretch," Brown said. "We gotta be better down the stretch. Definitely a game that got away from us, that got away from me. We'll watch the film and be ready for the next one."

The Celtics will look to snap their two-game skid when they host the Miami Heat (14-12) Friday night. 

Game Notes:

Both teams were pretty evenly matched across the board, as they each shot 46% from the field. Detroit hit 13-of-36 (36%) from long range to the Celtics 10-of-39 (26%). Boston was out-rebounded 39-37 and outscored 42-38 in the point, while the Pistons were 19-of-27 from the free throw line compared to the C's 17-of-25.

 

Joel Pavón

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Photo used courtesy of Getty Images