Pistons, on best run since 2008, rout Celtics for 8th straight win
DETROIT — Malik Beasley scored 26 points, Cade Cunningham had 21 points and 11 assists and the Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics 117-97 on Wednesday night in a matchup of two of the NBA’s hottest teams.
The Pistons (33-26) won their eighth straight and ended a 12-game losing streak against Boston, two nights after stopping a 10-game skid against the LA Clippers.
Detroit’s eight-game run is tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the longest active streak in the NBA. The Pistons have won eight consecutive contests in a season for the first time since a 10-game streak from Jan. 23 to Feb. 13, 2008.
Boston (42-17) had won six straight and 10 of 11. The Celtics’ 20-point loss was their second largest of the season, only one point shy of their largest.
Jayson Tatum scored 27 points for Boston, and Derrick White and Payton Pritchard each had 18. Tatum, White and Pritchard combined to shoot 14-of-22 from the floor in the first half, going 11-of-15 on 3-pointers.
It was the Celtics’ 19th game this season with 20 or more made 3-pointers, tied with the 2022-23 Golden State Warriors for the most in a season in NBA history. Boston entered the day 17-1 in games in which it made 20-plus 3-pointers this season and 32-1 over the past two seasons.
Jalen Duren added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Detroit. The Pistons had a 49-33 rebounding edge.
The Pistons led 90-79 going into the fourth, then scored the first eight points of the quarter to take a 19-point advantage.
Boston’s winning streak against the Pistons dated to Feb. 16, 2022. It was its longest active streak against any opponent and tied the third-longest active win streak against a single opponent in the NBA.
Tied at 55 at halftime, Detroit took control by outscoring the Celtics 35-24 in the third quarter.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Luka reflects on managing emotions during the Mavs matchup and looks ahead to the next challenge. (1:03)
LOS ANGELES — After Luka Doncic led the Lakers to a 107-99 win over his former team Tuesday — becoming only the third player to record a triple-double against every NBA franchise in the process — the star guard’s tone during his postgame news conference wasn’t triumphant.
No, Doncic sounded more relieved than anything.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” he said of the game coming only 3½ weeks after he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers. “I can’t even explain [it]. It was a different game. … Sometimes I don’t know what I was doing.
“And I’m just glad it’s over, honestly.”
Doncic, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists to join teammate LeBron James and Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook as the only players to put up a triple-double against all 30 teams, didn’t dominate Dallas. He shot 6-for-17 from the field (1-for-7 from 3), and it was James who scored 16 of his 27 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
But Doncic got through a night that had been looming since Dallas traded him, an emotional hurdle as he processed being around not only his former teammates, with whom he has maintained friendships, but also the Mavericks’ brass in general manager Nico Harrison and coach Jason Kidd.
“It definitely will help me,” Doncic said of putting the game behind him. “It’s definitely going to help in the long [run].”
Harrison stood on the sideline at midcourt during pregame warmups, although Doncic said he didn’t notice him.
He certainly saw the Mavericks’ bench, directing several shouts and stare-downs after making plays for his new team.
“Obviously there’s a lot of emotion that goes in when you give so much to a franchise and you sacrifice for a franchise and you have that type of love and respect for a franchise — throughout all the journeys,” James said of Doncic. “They went to the Finals, all that stuff. He’s grown from being an 18-, 19-year-old kid to now a 25-year-old man with a family. … And when you move on or they move on from you, it’s very emotional, obviously. It’s very taxing.
“It’s probably a lot of things that were going on in his head that probably didn’t even involve the game itself. And with that said, I thought he handled it tremendously.”
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, who led all scorers with 35 points, said the matchup was “awkward as s—” after facing off against the same player he teamed with to take Dallas to the Finals last season.
“But,” Irving added, “at the same time, it was fun. We got a chance to feel like we were in practice all over again going at each other. That was a good reflection point. And then just seeing the crowd cheer for him and just get him going … it was fun competing.”
Doncic called Irving his “hermano” and said their relationship goes “way beyond basketball.”
The teams will play again in Dallas on April 9. Returning to his former home will bring different challenges for Doncic, emotional and otherwise. The Mavericks are hoping Anthony Davis, sent from Los Angeles to Dallas in the deal, will have recovered from the left adductor strain he sustained after the trade and can play.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said there was no use avoiding the circumstances the schedule presents. As strange as Tuesday was for Doncic, the Lakers players had to deal with the conflicting emotions of seeing Davis back in the building and receiving a standing ovation in the first quarter when Los Angeles played a tribute video for him and then striving to send him away with a loss. The same went for having to match up with Max Christie, also part of the trade. He had 10 points and six assists for Dallas and played with the same effort and athleticism that used to be on the Lakers’ side.
“You kind of just got to embrace it,” Redick said. “It’s just a little weird. It just naturally is. … It’s healthy, actually, just to acknowledge it and embrace it. And then you play the game, and then you never have to do that again.”
Or at least the next time Doncic and the Lakers must play the Mavericks, they will have had more time to establish a new normal.
“The closure is going to take a while, I think,” Doncic said. “It’s not ideal. But like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. But we go little by little, and every day is better.”
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this report.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are shoring up their roster ahead of the stretch run, converting two-way guard Jaylen Clark to a standard contract while planning to pick up notable free agent guard Bones Hyland.
The Timberwolves have agreed to a fully guaranteed, two-year deal with Clark, the 6-foot-4 swingman who has showcased tremendous energy over the past month, his agent Todd Ramasar of Life Sports Agency told ESPN on Wednesday.
After converting Clark on Thursday, the Timberwolves will sign Hyland, a 2021 first-round pick, to a two-way deal, agent Austin Walton of NEXT Sports told ESPN. The move reunites Hyland with Timberwolves president Tim Connelly, who selected him No. 26 overall in Denver, where he was a two-time Rising Star selection.
Clark fully entered the Timberwolves’ rotation on Jan. 29, and he has averaged 6.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11 February games while shooting 47.4% from the field and 44% from 3-point land. He’s scored in double figures in three games, with 17, 14 and 11 points.
Clark has held opponents to 41% shooting as the contesting defender this season, according to ESPN Research, and drew the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander assignment this month, guarding him for 70 matchups.
The Timberwolves’ second-round pick in 2023, Clark missed the 2023-24 campaign due to a torn Achilles tendon but has made a tremendous recovery to become a member of the team this season.
Hyland, 24, is in his fourth NBA campaign and has averaged 7.2 points on a career-best 39% from 3-point range in 11.1 minutes a night over 20 games for the LA Clippers this season. He was sent to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the Terance Mann-Bogdan Bogdanovic deal at the trade deadline and was subsequently waived.
According to ESPN Research, Hyland ranks in the top five in steals per 36 minutes this season among players to play 200+ minutes. He has also averaged 17.7 points in three games where he played at least 20 minutes this season.
Hyland spent nearly two years in Denver before joining the Clippers in February 2023.
ESPN
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In their previous two seasons, the Detroit Pistons won 31 games combined. On Wednesday, they won their 33rd game of the season. And how.
The Pistons notched their eighth win in a row with a dominant second-half performance against the also-streaking Boston Celtics, finishing with a 117-97 victory. The win streak is the Pistons’ longest since the 2007-08 season.
The Celtics, who were without Jaylen Brown due to a thigh contusion, were on a six-game streak.
Detroit looked well on its way to a blowout win in the first half, holding a 15-point lead at one point in the second quarter. However, a furious Celtics run left the teams tied at halftime, only for Detroit to come out and build up a lead that peaked at 23, which they did not lose.
Malik Beasley came off the bench to lead the Pistons in scoring with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting, plus five rebounds, two assists and zero turnovers. Cade Cunningham also continued his campaign for Most Improved Player with 21 points and 11 assists.
The past three weeks have looked like a very real step forward for the Pistons, who direly needed one. Entering this season, Detroit hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2019, had been running through several lottery picks with mediocre results, and were on their third coach in three years after firing Dwane Casey for Monty Williams and Williams for J.B. Bickerstaff.
Finally, something is working. The team now holds a record of 33-26, good for sixth in the Eastern Conference and only a game behind the Indiana Pacers for fourth.
Pistons vs. Celtics final score: Pistons winning streak moves to eight with a definitive win over champs
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Detroit was the better team tonight against the Eastern Conference’s #2 seed.
This Detroit Pistons season is special. Considering what every player and fan had to experience last season, it’s unbelievable that Detroit is having such a successful season. Cade Cunningham is an All-Star who could make an All-NBA team this year and Detroit is approaching the 4-seed in the Eastern Conference. Tonight, they extended their winning streak to 8 with a 117-97 victory over the Boston Celtics.
Boston got hot at the end of the first half, but it really wasn’t that close of a game. Detroit looked like the better team on both sides of the court against the defending champions. They forced 17 Boston turnovers and outscored them 62-20 in the paint. Detroit’s defense shined tonight as they have now won eight games for the first time since 2008.
They say basketball is a game of runs, and the first quarter was exactly that. The game started with a 13-2 Detroit run, but Jayson Tatum got hot and led Boston on an 18-5 run to take the lead. That’s when Ausar Thompson decided to get three consecutive steals, two on Tatum, and brought the energy to Little Caesar’s Arena after Detroit had an 11-0 run to end the first. The Pistons held a 29-20 lead and Thompson had four steals in the quarter.
Joe Mazzulla had to take a timeout two minutes into the second after Detroit started off on a 9-2 run. Detroit was getting plenty of offense in transition, and considering how athletic they are, it’s not a surprise they’re ranked #2 in the NBA in fast break points. However, Boston’s strength is the long ball, and they hit six consecutive threes during a 27-12 run to tie the game up at 55 heading into halftime.
Most of Boston’s points were coming from deep as they only had 10 points in the paint and shot 54% from three. Tatum had 15 points while White and Pritchard both had 12 with four threes each. Detroit was led by Beasley (12) and Cunningham (10), but the Pistons were struggling to shoot from deep at 28%. They did a good job getting inside as 32 of their 55 first-half points were in the paint.
Detroit was able to reclaim the lead in the third. The Cade Cunningham-Jalen Duren pick-and-roll was an issue for Boston’s defense as Joe Mazzulla needed another timeout after three straight Duren layups put the Pistons up 10. Ausar hit a mean crossover on Tatum late in the quarter and Detroit took an 11-point lead heading into the fourth with a score of 90-79.
Beasley started the final quarter with two consecutive threes after forcing two Boston turnovers, and that sequence sent LCA into a frenzy as he threw his hands in the air to pump up the crowd. Boston brought in their five bench players with five minutes left in the game to throw up the white flag with Detroit winning by 18. The Pistons closed it out to win 117-97.
Malik Beasley led the way for Detroit with 26 points, including six threes. Cade added 21 points and 11 assists while Tobias contributed with 16 points and nine rebounds. Ausar Thompson made his impact felt defensively with five steals and some great perimeter defense. Detroit moves to 33-26 and is a half-game back from the 4th seed.
The Pistons will host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
You know the Pistons won again! Ws in the chat!
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