Had the Celtics done what they were supposed to against Detroit, Grant Williams’ performance from beyond the arc probably would’ve been the only thing worth breaking down from the game. A 4-for-7 showing after going 4-for-5 the night, after all, before is not something to be overlooked. (He’s been lighting it up from three all season, but seeing him consistently shoot well from deep regardless of his volume is promising for things moving forward.)
But Williams’ night wasn't the focus because the Celtics lost to a team that entered Wednesday with a losing streak that was almost as long as Boston’s winning streak.
Yes, this run was bound to end at some point. Bad games happen, absolutely.
However, when a younger team — which has talent but is not at all on Boston’s level — comes to the Garden and successfully plays a more physical brand of basketball, that’s a problem.
“Execution-wise, I think their physicality kind of threw us off our stuff on both ends a little bit,” Ime Udoka said after the 112-111 loss. “Eighteen offensive rebounds, 17 second-chance points is the area of emphasis that they hurt us last time. But like I said, I don’t think we played as well as we could have through their physicality.”
The Celtics knew early Detroit had every intention of setting a physical tone for the game, which is never a bad move for a less-talented team. But letting the subpar team dictate the tone of a game should never happen.
“That was that game plan for them — they were going to try to make it a physical game, and they did,” Jaylen Brown said. “The refs let a lot of things go tonight. It allowed them to play to their strengths, and they took advantage. I thought a lot of stuff was … you know … whatever. But we got to meet these teams’ physicality. Tonight was a challenge for us to do so. But with some of our more physical guys out, (Marcus) Smart and Rob (Williams), they definitely took advantage of that.”
Not having Smart and Williams does not help in physical games — absolutely a fair point from Brown. But, the Celtics should be able to survive that type of setting when they’re playing the Detroit Pistons.
Consider this a wake-up call, something the Celtics haven't had in some time.