Jaylen Brown tossed in a game-high 31 points and the Boston Celtics extended their home winning streak to nine games by beating the Detroit Pistons 119-94 Monday night.
Point guard Derrick White added 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for Boston, which has won six straight. White made 6 of 12 3-point attempts. It was the first triple-double of his career.
Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis returned to the court after missing five games with a hamstring issue and finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. The Celtics (54-14) also received 23 points from Payton Pritchard and 10 rebounds from Luke Kornet. Pritchard and Porzingis each made five 3-pointers.
Boston improved its record to 10-2 in the second game when the team has played on back-to-back nights this season.
Jaden Ivey led Detroit (12-56) with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jalen Duren finished with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.
The Pistons have lost three in a row and 13 of their last 17.
Each team was short-handed and without its top scorer. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham didn’t play because of a knee injury, and Boston’s Jayson Tatum missed the game with a right ankle injury. Cunningham is averaging 22.2 points and 7.6 assists per game. In addition to leading the Celtics in scoring (27.1 points per game), Tatum is also Boston’s leading rebounder (8.3 per game).
Boston also played without Al Horford (toe sprain), Jrue Holiday (shoulder) and Sam Hauser (ankle). Detroit’s Simone Fontecchio was scratched with a toe contusion.
The Celtics led 31-28 after one quarter and 59-46 at halftime. White had 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the first half, when he made 5 of 10 3-point attempts.
Boston closed the third quarter on a 7-0 run and led 92-66 entering the fourth. Detroit trailed by as many as 29 points in the final quarter.
Boston improved to 2-0 against Detroit this season. The Celtics earned a 128-122 home victory against the Pistons on Dec. 28.
–Field Level Media