Celtics Halt Detroit Pistons’ Winning Streak
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White led the Boston Celtics to a crucial victory against the Detroit Pistons, ending the Pistons’ winning streak, which tied a franchise record with 13 consecutive games won. The final score was 117-114 in favor of the Celtics. The Pistons, leaders of the Eastern Conference, missed the opportunity to break the record they shared with the championship teams of 1989-90 and 2003-04. After a streak of 28 consecutive losses two seasons ago, the team was in a promising position with a 15-3 record. Brown stood out with 33 points and 10 rebounds, while White scored 11 of his 27 points in the last 4 and a half minutes of the game, contributing to the Celtics’ victory despite Cade Cunningham’s 42 points for the Pistons.In the final moments, with Detroit losing by three points, Cunningham was fouled near the middle of the court as he was about to shoot a three-pointer. After a review, the referees determined that he was in the act of shooting. Cunningham made the first two free throws, but missed the third. Boston’s Payton Pritchard grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining. Boston stole a pass before Detroit could attempt a three-pointer to tie the game.We understand it’s a game, and we also understand that we didn’t play our best basketball. There were things we could have done better, and yet we put ourselves in a position to have a chance at the end of the game. All these things add up. We are still learning, and we hope not to be as good now as we will be in April.
J.B. Bickerstaff, Pistons coach
Pritchard contributed an additional 16 points to the Celtics’ victory, who won for the fifth time in six games. On Monday, Detroit won in Indiana to tie the team’s record for consecutive wins.We all wanted to win tonight, we all wanted 14 wins. I’m not going to act like it didn’t mean anything to us. It’s a big deal, we all wanted to be on that side of history, but it didn’t happen. We can’t go back. I can’t re-shoot the free throw. We can’t re-shoot the three. The game is over. It’s about how we’re going to respond. There’s a lot of season left to accomplish great things and that’s where our minds are.
Cade Cunningham
