, Blake Griffin (left knee surgery) and Luke Kennard (knee tendinitis). But Doumbouya has begun to get more comfortable lately, reaching double figures in seven of his last eight games.“I feel like normal, just played my game and not try to do too much," he said.Markieff Morris matched his season best with 23 points. Derrick Rose added 22 points and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk had a season-high 21. The Pistons shot a season-best 60.3% from the field.Andre Drummond added 13 points and 13 rebounds to post his 34th double-double of the season.“This is probably the best win we've had," Morris said. "We've been struggling lately. To come out and compete like we did tonight, shows us we can play with anybody.”The Pistons opened the fourth quarter with a 17-5 run, capped by a dunk by Drummond, to take a 108-87 lead with 7:05 to play.Boston never got closer than 12 after that. Shortly after coach Brad Stevens pulled his starters, Marcus Smart was called for a foul and ejected after arguing with an official.It was the conclusion of a night of frustration for Boston, which has lost four its last six.“They played well from the beginning of the game,” point guard Kemba Walker said. “They came out extremely aggressive and focused. They took that one.”Boston was without its second-leading scorer with Jayson Tatum sidelined because of soreness in his right knee. But he is expected to travel with the team for its anticipated matchup with conference leader Milwaukee on Thursday night.Smart started in his place.The Pistons took advantage with Tatum out. They used a 10-0 run, capped by 3-pointer by Mykhailiuk, to build 82-73 lead in the third quarter. He closed the period knocking down a buzzer-beater from just inside the half-court line.Rose hit his first four shots to help Detroit take an early 27-18 lead.The Celtics closed the gap led by Hayward, who connected on five of his first seven attempts in the first quarter.TIP-INSPistons: Scored 18 points off 15 Boston turnovers.Celtics: Bench was outscored 47-23.SECOND-HALF OPTIMISMWednesday marked the start of the second half of Detroit's schedule. Pistons coach Dwane Casey is hopeful it also bring some improved health for his team.Griffin and Kennard have been out since December and currently neither has a timetable to return to action. But Casey said Jackson is practicing and could be ready to come back “any day now.”“We could sit here and make a lot of excuses. ... It's part of the NBA,” Casey said. “Now is the time for everybody who has the opportunity to make sure they take advantage of it." INJURY UPDATEStevens said he doesn't expect big man Robert Williams (left hip bone edema) to return anytime before the All-Star break.Williams hasn't played since Dec. 6. He was last checked out by doctors earlier this month and received a good report. He was put on an action plan that was scheduled to last about a month.“They’re going to see how his hip responds to that, rescan him and then determine the course of action from there,” Stevens said. "We were hopeful in the last scan, but we’re also very cautious with his recovery.”NO CORAFormer Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who parted ways with the team Tuesday after being implicated in a sign-stealing scandal, was removed from a TD Garden anti-hate speech PSA. The video features various athletes and coaches from Boston and New England sports teams urging fans to stand up against racism and other hate speech.The spot includes appearances from Stevens, Red Sox players Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, Patriots Matt Slater and Devin McCourt, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy and others.UP NEXTPistons: At Atlanta on Saturday.Celtics: At Milwaukee Thursday.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Jan 14, 2020The Boston Celtics will look to run their winning streak to three ahead of one of their toughest tests of the season when they host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.The Celtics face the Pistons a night before traveling to Milwaukee to take on the NBA-best Bucks in the tail end of a back-to-back. Boston has cruised in its past two contests, wins over weaker clubs in the New Orleans Pelicans and Chicago Bulls.The Pistons also fit that mold, losing 12 of their past 15 games and still without several key starters due to injury. Detroit and Boston faced off earlier this year, the Celtics running away with a 114-93 win on Dec. 20.Boston has won six of the past seven meetings between the clubs.The Celtics have taken advantage of a softer part of their schedule to put a season-long three-game losing streak behind them. Jayson Tatum has led the way of late, following a career-best 41 points against the Pelicans with a team-high 21 in Monday's 113-101 victory over the Bulls."I think we've got a really good team, and any given night we've got guys that can go for a large amount of numbers," said teammate Jaylen Brown, who scored 19 in the contest. "So, for us, continue to play the right way and let the game kind of tell you what to do, and I think we'll be all right." Tatum is probable for Wednesday's game with right knee soreness, while big man Daniel Theis (right knee) is questionable after missing Monday's win.Also excelling of late for Boston is guard Marcus Smart, who returned from a lengthy absence with an eye infection in late December. Smart had 12 points and eight assists and played a team-high 33 minutes against Chicago while finishing plus-25."He's been a great boost for us, and I think he's starting to find himself after being out so long in these last three, four games," coach Brad Stevens said.Long-term injuries are a familiar problem for the Pistons, who are without Blake Griffin (knee), Luke Kennard (knee) and Reggie Jackson (back). Griffin and Kennard are nowhere close to a return, while Jackson appears days away from getting back on the court for the first time since late October."He's moving like he's 100 percent right now," coach Dwane Casey said Tuesday. "He should be ready to roll at any time." In the meantime, Derrick Rose has stepped up, leading the team in scoring in five of its past six games. Rose had 23 in a season-high 37 minutes of play as Detroit fell 117-110 in overtime to New Orleans on Monday.From the fourth quarter on, Casey benched Andre Drummond, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes."In a situation like that, we're looking for five or six men who are playing hard and who can finish the game for us," Casey said. "It wasn't a message for Andre as much as a message for everyone who wasn't on the floor." --Field Level Media
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