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The Celtics go from the team with the worst record in the league to the team with the second worst record as they host the Detroit Pistons. This is the 2nd of 3 games between these two teams this season. The Celtics won the first game 128-122 in overtime on December 28. They will meet again at Detroit on March 22. The Celtics won the series 4-0 last season.
Both of these teams are playing on the second night of back to back games. The Celtics won 130-104 at Washington on Sunday while the Pistons lost104-101 at home to the Miami Heat. The Celtics are 9-2 on the second night of back to back games and 5-0 when the second game is at home. The Pistons are 3-7 on the second night of back to back games. The Celtics are 251-140 overall all time against the Pistons and they are 123-46 all time at home.
The Celtics remain 1st in the East, 9.5 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 11 games ahead of 3rd place Cleveland, 13 games ahead of 4th place New York, 14 games ahead of 5th place Orlando, and 15.5 games ahead of 6th place Indiana. They are 30-3 at home and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 34-7 against Eastern Conference teams and have won their last 5 games.
The Pistons are 14th in the East, 1.5 games ahead of last place Washington. They are 4.5 games behind 13th place Charlotte, 11 games behind 12th place Toronto, and 17.5 games behind 10th place Atlanta and the final play-in spot. They are 5-27 on the road and 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are 9-33 against Eastern Conference teams and they have lost their last 2 games.
After a 3-2 road trip, the Celtics played one game at home against the Suns and then went on the road for a game in Washington before returning home to face Detroit. They will face Milwaukee at home and then head out on a 6 game road trip through Detroit, Chicago, 2 games in Atlanta, New Orleans and Charlotte. They will return home for 3 games against Oklahoma City, Sacramento, and Portland. Then it’s one game in Milwaukee before finishing the season at home against New York, Charlotte and Washington.
The Pistons just finished a 6 game home stand where they beat Brooklyn, Charlotte and Toronto and lost to Miami twice and Dallas. After this one road game, they will play Indiana, Boston and New Orleans at home. Next they play at New York, Minnesota, and Washington before playing Mamphis at home. They will play 6 of their last 7 games on the road.
It’s hard to predict who will play and who will sit in this one. Al Horford is out for rest. Jrue Holiday is out due to a shoulder injury. Kristaps Porzingis has missed 5 straight games with a strained hamstring and he has been upgraded to probable for this game. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown missed Sunday’s game and I would guess that they both return for this game. However, Brown is listed as questionable with ankle soreness.
Tatum is also listed as questionable with an ankle impingement. Sam Hauser left Sunday’s game with an ankle injury and is out for this game. I’m guessing that Derrick White will move to point guard with Jrue out and Oshae Brissett will start at shooting guard. However, Payton Pritchard may get the start at the point with White remaining at shooting guard. Those decisions will be made closer to game time.
For the Pistons, Quentin Grimes has been limited to three appearances in March due to right knee soreness and is out for this game. Ausar Thompson has missed 4 straight games with in illness and is also out for this game. Cade Cunningham was questionable for Sunday’s game with knee soreness but he ended up playing and is once again questionable for this game. Simone Fontecchio is questionable with a toe injury. I’m not sure who would start if either or both are out.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG: Derrick White
SG: Oshae Brissett
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics Reserves
Luke Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
Jaden Springer
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Neemias Queta
Injuries/Out
Jrue Holiday (shoulder) out
Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) probable
Jaylen Brown (ankle) questionable
Sam Hauser (ankle) out
Al Horford (rest) out
Jayson Tatum (ankle) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
PG: Cade Cunningham
SG: Jaden Ivey
SF: Simone Fontecchio
PF: Isaiah Stewart
C: Jalen Duren
Pistons Reserves
Troy Brown, Jr
Malachi Flynn
Evan Fournier
Taj Gibson
Marcus Sasser
Stanley Umude
James Wiseman
Two Way Players
Buddy Boeheim
Jared Rhoden
Tosan Evbuomwan
Injuries/Out
Ausar Thompson (illness) out
Quentin Grimes (knee) out
Simone Fontecchio (toe) questionable
Cade Cunningham (knee) questionable
Head Coach
Monty Williams
Key Matchups
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Jrue Holiday
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Cade Cunningham
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
Jrue Holiday vs Cade Cunningham
Cunningham is averaging 22.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. He is shooting 45% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, Cunningham finished with 31 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks while shooting 54.5% from the field and 66.7% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to defend him better in this game.
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Derrick White
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
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Jaden Ivey
Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
Derrick White vs Jaden Ivey
Ivey is averaging 15.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. He is shooting 43.4% from the field and 32.9% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, Ivey finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block while shooting 53.3% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc. As with Cunningham, the Celtics need to do a better job of defending him in this game.
Honorable Mention
Kristaps Porzingis vs Jalen Duren
Duren is averaging 14.1 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He is shooting 63.7% from the field and is not a threat to shoot from 3. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 2 assists while shooting 83.3% from the field. The Celtics need to defend him better in this game and also keep him off the boards.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense will always be key to winning every game. The Celtics are 2nd in the league with a 110.4 defensive rating while the Pistons are 27th with a defensive rating of 118.5. The Pistons are 22nd in the league, averaging 112.1 points per game. They have a 111.5 defensive rating for March (7th) and they are coming off a game in which they lost by just 4 points to the Heat. It took overtime for the Celtics to beat them at home in their first meeting. The Celtics have to come into this game with the mindset that they need to play tough defense and not underestimate the Pistons, who have a lot of young and hungry players.
Rebound – Rebounding is important to give the Celtics extra possessions and to limit possessions for their opponents. The Celtics are averaging 46.9 rebounds per game (2nd) while the Pistons are averaging 44 rebounds (12th). Over their last 5 games, the Pistons have 78 more rebounds their opponents. In their first meeting, the Pistons out-rebounded the Celtics 57-43 and the Celtics have to do better in this game. Rebounding takes effort and the Celtics need to give extra effort to beat the Pistons to rebounds. When they show extra effort on the boards, it often shows up in other areas of the game as well.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics can’t come into the game expecting an easy game and to be able to take it easy on both ends of the court because the Pistons are at the bottom of the league. They have to come in and be aggressive on defense, on taking the ball to the basket, on diving for loose balls, on rebounding and on playing as a team. If they allow the Pistons to play harder than them they may just be surprised with a loss. They can’t underestimate the Pistons and have to play hard and give it their all for 48 minutes.
Reserve Play – Both teams are playing on the second night of back to back games. the Pistons game went down to the wire while the Celtics game was pretty much over at the half. Both teams will be depending on their reserves to get through this game. The Celtics may be short handed and that would put even more pressure on the reserves to perform well.
X-Factors
Back to Back at Home – The Celtics are back at home and they need come out ready to protect home court. Young teams often struggle on the road and hopefully the Garden will be loud and will be able to distract the young Pistons team who also have to face the distractions of travel. The Celtics will possibly be short handed and so every player has to step up their game, even against the team at the bottom of the East. Too often we have seen the Celtics relax and let up and lose to teams they should absolutely beat.
Officiating – Officiating is always an x-factor. Every crew calls the game differently. Some call it tight and call every bit of contact while others allow more physical play. Some favor the home team while others call both sides evenly. The Celtics have to adjust to the way the refs are calling the game and not allow the no calls and bad calls to affect their focus on playing the game.
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