Sunday featured another case of the Detroit Pistons “controlling the chaos” by defeating the Boston Celtics 119-113. The franchise has spoken about embracing and fighting through adversity as its identity. Their matchup against Boston called for that same gritty mentality. After being down as many as 17 points in the first half, the Pistons needed to rally back in their home debut of the season. Detroit forward Ausar Thompson labeled the victory an “identity win” during the postgame media session.
“I would definitely call this an identity win. Just because of the way the second group came in there and they re-showed us our identity for a second when we were lost and down [17],” Thompson explained. “Once they did that, we came back, and we kept that identity for the rest of the game. So, I would definitely say that.”
Boston jumped out to a hot start against the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. The contest opened up with flat execution by the home team on both ends of the floor. While the starters struggled to keep the game under control, the second unit provided a much-needed surge of energy to turn the tide.
“I think Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart, and Javonte Green came in and changed the energy for us,” center Jalen Duren stated during a postgame interview. “They got a couple of stops for us, got the crowd into it, and changed the game. The rest of the team bought into what they brought.”
Detroit's bench scored 23 points, but their impact was much bigger than the box score. Their hustle for extra possessions and defensive effort kept their fight against the Celtics alive.
Point guard Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points and eight assists. Thompson played another impactful game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Veteran Tobias Harris played one of his best games of the season, scoring 18 points and pulling down eight rebounds.
Breakout performance by Jalen Duren
Duren was a standout player for the Pistons with an impressive double-double. The starting center recorded 24 points, 18 rebounds, and two blocks in 28 minutes. Detroit hammered Boston on the glass, creating key second-chance opportunities on offense. Duren pulled down eight of those 18 rebounds on the offensive glass to aid the Pistons.
The dirty work of Duren also paid dividends for the young center at the free-throw line. The 21-year-old big man went to the free-throw line 13 times, and he knocked down 12 of those attempts.
Detroit's first two games featured limited availability for Duren. He fouled out against the Chicago Bulls and was ejected against the Houston Rockets for elbowing forward Amen Thompson. Duren only played for less than 20 minutes in both contests.
Extra defensive attention against Cade Cunningham
Point guard Cade Cunningham has been the obvious focal point of the defensive game plan of his opponents. Cunningham has been blitzed excessively to get the ball out of his hands and to try and force turnovers. That pressure was felt as he turned the ball over six times against Boston.
Lots of physical defense has been packaged with the extra pressure applied to Detroit's All-Star guard. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff commented on the pressure Cunningham has been feeling and how he has managed to play through it.
“It is frustrating being him. The things that people are allowed to do to him from a physicality standpoint because he's a bigger guard can be frustrated,” Bickerstaff said to the media after the victory. “His face is swollen, his hip's bruised, his knee is bruised because he has to play through so much contact. It's important for him to understand how important he is to us. How he has to maintain his composure and where he is mentally because we need him. Even through those frustrations that he may have, he bounces back quickly because he understands how to lead his team and how much his team looks to him and relies on him.”
