By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Boston Celtics quickly moved past their loss against the Memphis Grizzlies and demolished the Detroit Pistons to complete the bounce-back win, 123-99, in the ongoing NBA regular season on December 13, 2024.
After a disappointing defeat at the hands of Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, the Celtics vented their ire on the Pistons and pulled off a lopsided wire-to-wire win to improve to a 20-5 win-loss record.
Boston immediately took control of the ball game when they ended the first 12 minutes with a double-digit advantage, 27-16, and didn’t look back until the final buzzer sounded.
Despite the absence of Jayson Tatum who was sidelined due to a right patella tendinopathy, Boston’s signature balanced offensive attack made the difference as six of their players all entered the double-digit scoring mark.
Backup floor general Payton Pritchard stole the show for the Celtics after cashing in seven three-pointers in just 31 minutes of playing time.
The spitfire point guard top-scored the Celtics with 27 points built from an efficient 10/20 shooting from the field alongside 10 assists and four rebounds.
Pritchard caught his microwave state at the start of the second quarter and fully entered unconscious mode until the end of the period. He carried his waxing hot shooting until midway through the third and helped the Celtics bag their biggest lead of the ball game at 32 points.
The Pistons threatened to trim their deficit to 12 points when they hit consecutive triples at the start of the fourth but a late surge from the Celtics mounted their cushion back to 20 points and secured the win with four minutes still remaining in the game.
Aside from Pritchard, Derrick White also continued his steady all-around game for Boston and chipped in 23 markers, four dimes, two boards, two steals, and a block.
Kristaps Porzingis is slowly regaining his touch when he dropped 19 points off two treys alongside eight rebounds, two blocks, and two assists.
On the other hand, the Pistons received a near triple-double outing from their superstar, Cade Cunningham, who registered 18 points, eight boards, and eight dimes.
However, Boston’s firepower proved to be too much for the young Detroit squad and will look to bounce back on December 17, 2024, against the Miami Heat.
