Jaylen Brown scores 33 as Celtics extend streak

Jaylen Brown shines with 33 points as the NBA-leading Celtics extend their winning streak to eight games, defeating the Pistons 129-102

Jaylen Brown scored 33 points, and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics won their eighth straight game, beating the short-handed Detroit Pistons 129-102 on Friday night.

“It’s an honor to coach Jaylen when he is playing like this,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He’s processing every possession on both ends of the floor and getting the shots he wants for himself and his teammates. He’s playing well-rounded basketball, and watching it has been fun.”

Boston improved to 56-15 – a .800 winning percentage. Detroit is tied with Washington at the bottom of the league at 12-58 — 44 games behind the Celtics.

Peyton Pritchard added 20 points, and Derrick White had 19 points and 11 assists. Jayson Tatum sat out against Detroit to rest an ankle for the second time in five days, also missing a 119-94 home victory Monday night.

Brown was 13 of 19 from the floor, including 10 of 11 on 2-point shots.

“I just wanted to be aggressive because we had some guys out,” he said. ”When (Tatum) isn’t out there, I know I have to play a little bit faster.”

The Celtics were starting a seasonlong six-game road trip.

“It’s the same challenge you have on any trip – continuing to play at a high level and keeping the main things the main things,” Mazzulla said.

Detroit’s James Wiseman scored a season-high 24 points, and Jaden Ivey scored 16. The Pistons have dropped nine straight against Boston.

“The stats and stuff don’t matter to me because I want to win,” said Wiseman, who started for the first time this season. “We’ve had a lot of peaks and valleys this season, but there are still things we can get better at down the stretch.”

The Pistons were missing their top five post players: Jalen Duren (back), Stanley Umude (ankle), Simone Fontecchio (toe), Isaiah Stewart (hamstring), and Ausar Thompson (illness). That left them with a starting backcourt of Tosan Evboumwan, Troy Brown Jr., and Wiseman.

“I can’t ever use (talent level) as an excuse,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said. “We showed in the first quarter and a little in the third that we could compete. We just had two tough quarters – 19 in the second and 19 in the fourth.”

Tied at 43 in the second period, Boston took over in a stretch that included parts of the second and third quarters. The Celtics had a 47-21 run to take a 90-64 lead with 6:10 left in the third.

Brown finished with 17 points in the third to help Boston take a 104-83 lead. Mazzulla emptied the bench in the fourth.

Source: AP

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