Pistons (2-28) at Celtics (23-6) Game #30 12/28/23

[tenn_smoothie]

Tatum is not a good 3 point shooter.  He needs to stop acting like he is one.

Too talented to waste his effort shooting 3's

This team is too talented to waste on Tatum's iso

Too talented to have Joe Mazzulla as the head coach and then to play with the awful strategic philosophy that they do.

[tenn_smoothie]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

Coming home and having a letdown performance after a successful tough road-trip is quite normal - we see it a lot in the NBA.
Coming home with the best record in the league and falling behind by 21 to a historically bad NBA team is inexcusable.

[Celtics2021]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

Not that I'm defending them, but fact of the matter is, they got blown out at home in the first half by a now 28 losing-streak Pistons. They should be firing in all cylinders all four quarters against this Pistons team, who had no business going into OT with.

What team is firing on all cylinders constantly all season long? Even the 73-9 Warriors lost when it mattered most. The regular season is a series of ebbs and flows. We've seen that constantly throughout multiple seasons for multiple franchises. I'm not gonna be pressed about the C's almost losing in December against the ultimate goal. That's wasted energy to me.

Seriously.  The Bucks had a 2-point win vs. these same Pistons earlier during their losing streak and a 3-point win against the Wizards.  It happens to literally every great team a few times a year, because their opponents, like them, are professionals.  The Celtics had a great third quarter to get back into the game (didn’t we have a thread complaining about third quarters like a week or so ago?) and it was a back and forth 4th quarter because the Pistons didn’t quit, to their credit.  And then we won in overtime (I’m fairly sure the meltdown of these forums last week was our winless overtime record).

Some people won’t let themselves enjoy things.  It’s sad.

[ozgod]

We can’t win every game by 20. All I want is if they have a bad quarter or half, that they fix it. It’s usually harder to fix things because the other team grows in confidence so better to not put yourself in thst position to begin with but it happens. So they need to have a better 2nd half or 4th quarter than the other team.

 I'm glad they did thst tonight. The difference between their first and second halves was night and day. You can get knocked down but it’s who is still standing at the end thst counts.

Thst said I didn’t watch the whole game live just the last quarter and OT so I sympathize with all the wrist slitters here who had to suffer through the first half…I was ready to wrist slit too and all I was doing was checking the score 

[cman88]

I hope the team realizes they are better when playing inside out.

The team played much better in the 2nd half when they emphasized going to the hoop and post ups. And what do you know? The 3s started falling when the ball moved around.

Overall though can't be too upset. This is a game last year they lose by double digits. They are learning to fix some of these demons.

[Roy H.]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

Not that I'm defending them, but fact of the matter is, they got blown out at home in the first half by a now 28 losing-streak Pistons. They should be firing in all cylinders all four quarters against this Pistons team, who had no business going into OT with.

What team is firing on all cylinders constantly all season long? Even the 73-9 Warriors lost when it mattered most. The regular season is a series of ebbs and flows. We've seen that constantly throughout multiple seasons for multiple franchises. I'm not gonna be pressed about the C's almost losing in December against the ultimate goal. That's wasted energy to me.

Seriously.  The Bucks had a 2-point win vs. these same Pistons earlier during their losing streak and a 3-point win against the Wizards.  It happens to literally every great team a few times a year, because their opponents, like them, are professionals.  The Celtics had a great third quarter to get back into the game (didn’t we have a thread complaining about third quarters like a week or so ago?) and it was a back and forth 4th quarter because the Pistons didn’t quit, to their credit.  And then we won in overtime (I’m fairly sure the meltdown of these forums last week was our winless overtime record).

Some people won’t let themselves enjoy things.  It’s sad.

I'm glad we won, but if we played with that level of effort against any other team, we probably lose.  The Celts came out ultra-lazy in a home game and were on the brink of ridicule for losing to a historically bad team.

That shouldn't give anybody the warm and fuzzies.

[cman88]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

Not that I'm defending them, but fact of the matter is, they got blown out at home in the first half by a now 28 losing-streak Pistons. They should be firing in all cylinders all four quarters against this Pistons team, who had no business going into OT with.

What team is firing on all cylinders constantly all season long? Even the 73-9 Warriors lost when it mattered most. The regular season is a series of ebbs and flows. We've seen that constantly throughout multiple seasons for multiple franchises. I'm not gonna be pressed about the C's almost losing in December against the ultimate goal. That's wasted energy to me.

Seriously.  The Bucks had a 2-point win vs. these same Pistons earlier during their losing streak and a 3-point win against the Wizards.  It happens to literally every great team a few times a year, because their opponents, like them, are professionals.  The Celtics had a great third quarter to get back into the game (didn’t we have a thread complaining about third quarters like a week or so ago?) and it was a back and forth 4th quarter because the Pistons didn’t quit, to their credit.  And then we won in overtime (I’m fairly sure the meltdown of these forums last week was our winless overtime record).

Some people won’t let themselves enjoy things.  It’s sad.

I'm glad we won, but if we played with that level of effort against any other team, we probably lose.  The Celts came out ultra-lazy in a home game and were on the brink of ridicule for losing to a historically bad team.

That shouldn't give anybody the warm and fuzzies.

guess it depends if you are a glass half full or empty guy.

glass half full would say the way they responded in the 2nd half is encouraging. this is a game if it was last year they lose.

[Surferdad]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

Not that I'm defending them, but fact of the matter is, they got blown out at home in the first half by a now 28 losing-streak Pistons. They should be firing in all cylinders all four quarters against this Pistons team, who had no business going into OT with.

In fairness, the game after a big road trip is a well-known stumbling block for teams, and this Detroit team is playing with desperate intensity trying to get out from under that streak.  This was a gigantic trap game that we just dodged. 

The first half sucked but I’m happy with the team overall.  That was not an easy win but they got it done.

In the post-game press conference, even Mazulla made the point about 1st game back after a road trip is not easy, but I would add that a successful road trip makes it even harder as there could be a tendency to be overconfident, which KP actually admitted post-game when Abby interviewed him.

Regarding the Pistons, I agree with Scal that they will continue to play harder as the streak goes on and eventually they will break through. It's just that last night they played the best team in the league so the odds of breaking through were small to begin with. Give them credit, they've got good players, a few great athletes, a good coach and they do play hard.

[Birdman]

A win is a win..all players are professionals no matter what record is..and after a rough western road trip this is expected

[Roy H.]

A win is a win..all players are professionals no matter what record is..and after a rough western road trip this is expected

It shouldn't be the expectation.  It's great that they came back and won, but Joe shouldn't be normalizing that behavior.

[Celtics2021]

A win is a win..all players are professionals no matter what record is..and after a rough western road trip this is expected

It shouldn't be the expectation.  It's great that they came back and won, but Joe shouldn't be normalizing that behavior.

It’s always Joe’s fault somehow.

For what it’s worth, I went back looking for old road trips that were similar to the last one.  In 2018-2019, they had the same four game trip (Warriors, Kings, and then two games in LA) and they came back and won a tight one against Sacramento, losing the first quarter by 13.  Found the end of that game thread, and it’s generally more positive than this one.

[hwangjini_1]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

Not that I'm defending them, but fact of the matter is, they got blown out at home in the first half by a now 28 losing-streak Pistons. They should be firing in all cylinders all four quarters against this Pistons team, who had no business going into OT with.

What team is firing on all cylinders constantly all season long? Even the 73-9 Warriors lost when it mattered most. The regular season is a series of ebbs and flows. We've seen that constantly throughout multiple seasons for multiple franchises. I'm not gonna be pressed about the C's almost losing in December against the ultimate goal. That's wasted energy to me.

Seriously.  The Bucks had a 2-point win vs. these same Pistons earlier during their losing streak and a 3-point win against the Wizards.  It happens to literally every great team a few times a year, because their opponents, like them, are professionals.  The Celtics had a great third quarter to get back into the game (didn’t we have a thread complaining about third quarters like a week or so ago?) and it was a back and forth 4th quarter because the Pistons didn’t quit, to their credit.  And then we won in overtime (I’m fairly sure the meltdown of these forums last week was our winless overtime record).

Some people won’t let themselves enjoy things.  It’s sad.

I'm glad we won, but if we played with that level of effort against any other team, we probably lose.  The Celts came out ultra-lazy in a home game and were on the brink of ridicule for losing to a historically bad team.

That shouldn't give anybody the warm and fuzzies.

true. but as noted above by others, if the celtics played with the style and effort of the third quarter against any other team, they probably win.

i am happy, happy they won. i like to enjoy wins, even when they are stressful. 

i would be even happier if the celtics were more consistent, attacked the basket regularly, relied less on tatum for final shots, and had a more aggressive approach to defense....because when they do they are far and away the best team in the nba.

as for coach joe, he is in his second year and he is showing that he can learn and change. i an encouraged, and pleased that he has great assistant coaches as well. lots to look forward to this season....especially #18. 

[Celtics2021]

Related to this game, but not about the Celtics, the Pistons aren’t getting to 29 losses.  I’ve been watching their games on League Pass the last week to see them set records, and they are definitely playing far better than they were at the beginning of the month.  They’re winning their next game.

[Atzar]

Related to this game, but not about the Celtics, the Pistons aren’t getting to 29 losses.  I’ve been watching their games on League Pass the last week to see them set records, and they are definitely playing far better than they were at the beginning of the month.  They’re winning their next game.

They're legitimately playing their hearts out trying to get away from this thing.  But for every player who actually helps them win, they have another who shouldn't be on an NBA basketball court.  Between Bagley, Wiseman, Knox, and their own Hayes, I figure the Pistons are two pieces away from assembling the Bust Infinity Gauntlet and Thanos-Snapping their own fanbase. 

I feel so bad for Cade. 

[Vermont Green]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

Not that I'm defending them, but fact of the matter is, they got blown out at home in the first half by a now 28 losing-streak Pistons. They should be firing in all cylinders all four quarters against this Pistons team, who had no business going into OT with.

What team is firing on all cylinders constantly all season long? Even the 73-9 Warriors lost when it mattered most. The regular season is a series of ebbs and flows. We've seen that constantly throughout multiple seasons for multiple franchises. I'm not gonna be pressed about the C's almost losing in December against the ultimate goal. That's wasted energy to me.

Seriously.  The Bucks had a 2-point win vs. these same Pistons earlier during their losing streak and a 3-point win against the Wizards.  It happens to literally every great team a few times a year, because their opponents, like them, are professionals.  The Celtics had a great third quarter to get back into the game (didn’t we have a thread complaining about third quarters like a week or so ago?) and it was a back and forth 4th quarter because the Pistons didn’t quit, to their credit.  And then we won in overtime (I’m fairly sure the meltdown of these forums last week was our winless overtime record).

Some people won’t let themselves enjoy things.  It’s sad.

I'm glad we won, but if we played with that level of effort against any other team, we probably lose.  The Celts came out ultra-lazy in a home game and were on the brink of ridicule for losing to a historically bad team.

That shouldn't give anybody the warm and fuzzies.

guess it depends if you are a glass half full or empty guy.

glass half full would say the way they responded in the 2nd half is encouraging. this is a game if it was last year they lose.

Funny, I look at this a little differently than most, as more of an anti-trap game.  Yes, we demonstrated the road trip hangover effect in the first half.  I had referenced this way back at the start of the thread.  It was really bad.  And DET did not play like a 2 and whatever team.  Cade Cunningham is a legit emerging star.

But we came back from down 20.  Maybe we don't on some given night vs. WAS or something, but against the record setting losing team that was playing way over their head, we said, no not on my watch, not in our house.

It was a nice win.