The Celtics continue their road trip with a stop in Detroit to take on the Pistons.
The Celtics continued their 3 game road trip with a stop in Detroit to take on the Pistons. This is the third match out of 4 this season between these two teams. The Celtics won the first game 102–93 in Detroit on February 4. The Pistons ended the Celtics' 9-game winning streak with a 112–111 victory over the Celtics in Boston on February 16. They will meet again on March 11 in Boston.
The Celtics are in sixth place in the east. They won 9 straight before losing to the same Pistons in the final game before the All-Star Break. He then won his first game back from the break. They are 9-1 in their last 10 games and 15-15 on the road. They are 35-15 against other Eastern Conference teams. The Celtics are 1.5 games ahead of 7th place Toronto and 3.5 games ahead of 8th place Brooklyn. They are 1 game behind 5th place Cleveland, 1.5 games behind 4th place Milwaukee, and 3 games behind Philadelphia. They are 4.5 games out of first place.
The Pistons are 14th in the East and the second worst team in the league. However, they have won their last 2 by beating the Celtics just before the break and the Cavaliers just after the break. They are 2-8 in their last 10 matches and 9-20 at home. They are 10-23 against other Eastern Conference teams. They are 1.5 games ahead of last-placed Orlando and 5.5 games behind 13th-placed Indiana.
The Celtics have won 6 straight road games and the last 5 of those road wins were wire to wire wins. In those last 5 road wins, the Celtics beat their opponents by 148 points. This is the biggest difference in any 5-game road span in NBA history. The Celtics have won 6 of their last 8 matches in Detroit. The Celtics are 208-112 at all times against the Pistons and they are 88-64 when playing in Detroit.
Playing in the second game of the Celtics 3 game Road Trip. He started off with a resounding win in Brooklyn and will complete his journey in Indiana on Sunday. They will then have a 3-game home stand where they will host Atlanta, Memphis and Brooklyn. The Pistons, playing in their second straight home game, will begin a 3-game road trip in Charlotte on Sunday. Both teams are playing back to back games first.
The Celtics injury list is clear. Marcus Smart played in Brooklyn with a bone injury and will likely play through it again in this game. In his last game against Brooklyn, Jaylen Brown fell on his wrist and came shaking it. He seemed fine on the bench and is not on the injury list at this time. For Detroit, Frank Jackson is listed as suspect with back cramps.