The Celtics fell to the Detroit Pistons 104-103 Monday night at Little Caesars Arena to lose their regular season series 3-1.
Jaylen Brown, who was named an All-Star for the fifth time and first as a starter just hours prior to tip-off, led all scorers with 32 points on 11-of-28 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds before missing what would have been the game-winning shot in the final seconds.
"It was a great move by Jaylen. It's a shot that he makes, and it just didn't go down," Joe Mazzulla told reporters. "So it was great execution. I'll take that shot 100 times out of 100."
Payton Pritchard (ankle) returned from his one-game absence to finish with 17 points, while Sam Hauser added 16 points for the Celtics -- who fell to 26-16 but still have the second-best record in the East.
Tobias Harris was the lead scorer for the Pistons with 25 points on 11-of-20 from the field, while Jalen Duran had 18 points, nine rebounds and fellow Eastern Conference All-Star starter Cade Cunningham struggled on 4-of-17 from the floor but notched a double-double of 16 points, 14 assists for Detroit -- who improved to 31-10 (best record in the East) and 18-4 at home, winning seven of their last nine overall.
In the previous three meetings between both teams, each were decided within seven points or less and this final regular season bout was no different, as the fourth quarter featured 11 ties and five lead changes.
Duncan Robinson (15 points) hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night to give the Pistons a 96-91 advantage with just over six minutes left to play before Boston scored six unanswered points, including a go-head layup by Brown. Harris' 3-pointer a few possessions later put the Pistons up for good (99-97) with 2:58 remaining.
The Celtics were down 101-99 when Brown missed two free throws after going a perfect 8-of-8 prior to the two crucial attempts and Harris hit another 3-ball to make it 104-99 with 1:37 on the game clock.
Brown scored the next two field goals for Boston to get within one (104-101) while the Pistons failed to extend their lead on back-to-back misses by Harris and Cunningham despite an offensive rebound to set up a final shot for the C's to potentially win the game.
With 4.4 seconds left to play, Brown missed a 14-foot fadeaway jumper over Harris on the right wing as time expired.
"Last play -- catch, get to a spot, go up -- gotta make a play for your team at the end," Brown said during his postgame presser. "We had some opportunities -- didn't convert. We still got some room for growth. That's what the regular season is for, so we need to be better."
The Celtics went 2-2 on their first road trip of the calendar year, as they'll return home to host the Indiana Pacers (10-34) Wednesday night.
Boston connected on 40% from the field and hit 13-of-41 (32%) from deep, while the Pistons were 43% from the floor and 11-of-35 (31%) from 3-point range. The Celtics won the rebound battle 45-41, but were outscored in the paint 48-32. Detroit had 24 assists on 38 baskets and only eight turnovers to the C's 13 dimes on 33 made shots and 14 committed turnovers.
Joel Pavón
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