Recap: Celtics drop first game of back to back losing 116-103 to Detroit

Gordon Hayward scored 24 points in the Celtics' loss to the Detriot Pistons. Photo via the Boston Celtics on Twitter @celtics. 
On the first night of a back to back, the Boston Celtics were most likely hoping for an easy win against the Detriot Pistons at home. However, they got the exact opposite, playing a back and forth game in the first half before eventually losing to the Pistons (shot 60% as a team) who pulled away in the second half with a final score of 116 - 103.
With Jayson Tatum sitting out for tonight's game, team jay was still well represented in the close game early on. Jaylen Brown scored  24 points with 17 being scored aggressively in the first half. His play did slow down tremendously in the second half, however, which was something that played a big role in the C's eventually dropping the game. Aside from that, he lead the team in rebounding grabbing 12 in total.

Gordon Hayward had a very solid night as well after scoring just 8 points in Monday night's win over Chicago. He contributed a team-high 25 points on 73% shooting with 7 rebounds and 2 steals in 32 minutes of play. Had he not had a little solo run in the third quarter, this game would have ended a lot earlier than it did.
All-Star starter candidate Kemba Walker wasn't very effective on the scoreboard for Boston, scoring 19 points and hitting just 36% of his shots (7-19). From the three-point line, he shot a very poor 18%, hitting only 2 of his 11 attempts. With the absence of Tatum, his scoring was very much needed out there tonight, but his shot just wasn't falling.

It was a balanced night on Detriot's side of the ball, but former league MVP and NBA veteran Derrick Rose had a cool, calm, and composed performance that was the key to the Piston's win. He scored 22 points on 85% shooting with 6 assists, missing just 2 shots in 28 minutes of play. Off the bench, Markieff Morris (23 pts, 50% from three) and Svi Mykhailiuk (20 pts, 4 asts) both made it tough for the Celtics to break that second-half deficit late in the game. Rookie forward Sekou Doumbouya lead the way in scoring with 24 points in 27 minutes while also shooting a very impressive 77% from the field. Rumored Celtics trade target Andre Drummond had a solid night as well in the Garden, scoring 13 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing 7 assists in his team-high 37 minutes on the court.

Check out a full box score of tonight's win here, as well as a highlight reel of the games' top plays down below.


The Celtics' second game of their back to back and their second of three games in four nights will take place tomorrow in Milwaukee at 8 p.m. against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the first place Bucks, who the Celtics beat early on in the season with a huge rally comeback.

You can follow Thomas Desmond on Twitter @td_654.