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The Boston Celtics will try to avoid losing two games in a row for the first time this season when they play the Detroit Pistons at home on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Celtics haven\u2019t played since they lost 127-121 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Boston managed to come back from a 14-point deficit in the second half to take a four-point lead in the fourth quarter, but they couldn\u2019t keep up in the final minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEffort was good,\u201d said Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. \u201cYou\u2019re down 14, take the lead. In the fourth quarter, I felt like we didn\u2019t really have a rhythm to the game, but we were able to take the lead. I thought we kind of just ran out of gas here towards the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was Boston\u2019s fifth game in seven nights, and they shot 18 of 60 from three-point range.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the games you\u2019ve just gotta fight through it,\u201d said Jaylen Brown. \u201cTough schedule, but we don\u2019t make any excuses. We know what the journey is about and we\u2019re not skipping any steps. I thought we fought as a team. We didn\u2019t let the rope go. We didn\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sam Hauser, one of Boston\u2019s top reserves, left Saturday\u2019s game in the second quarter with what the team called right adductor tightness. Mazzulla downplayed the injury after the game, saying, \u201cHe\u2019s doing pretty good. He said he\u2019d be OK, but he just wasn\u2019t able to finish (Saturday\u2019s game). But afterwards, he said he was good.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Hauser is listed as doubtful for Thursday\u2019s game. Also listed as questionable are All-Star Jayson Tatum (right patella tendinopathy), Jaden Springer (non-COVID illness), and Jordan Walsh (rib contusion).<\/p>\n Cade Cunningham had 29 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds to help the Pistons end a three-game losing streak with a 120-111 win over the New York Knicks on Saturday. Cunningham, Detroit\u2019s first-round draft pick in 2021, is averaging 23.9 points, 9.4 assists, and 7.3 rebounds in 21 games this season.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to do whatever it takes to help my team win, and my teammates have made me look great this year,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to help my team win and we\u2019ll see what happens with it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pistons used an 18-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Knicks. Detroit\u2019s Malik Beasley made 7 of 10 three-pointers and finished the game with 23 points.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to build and taking steps,\u201d said Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff. \u201cThe hardest thing to do in the\u00a0NBA\u00a0is find consistency, whether as an individual or as a team. But it\u2019s the habits we do every single day and, hopefully, (the victory over New York) is another game that\u2019s a big step for us. But we keep seeing the value in those habits and we keep getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s game will be the third meeting of the season between the Pistons and Celtics. Boston won 124-118 in Detroit on October 26, and Cunningham had 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 14 assists in Detroit\u2019s 130-120 loss in Boston on December 4.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t say this lightly by any means but being around (Cunningham) and spending time with him \u2014 he\u2019s the guy,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cHe has the ability to be an elite guy on a basketball team because of all of the things he\u2019s capable of doing. He can manipulate the game, he can score, he can rebound, and he makes his teammates better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Please enable cookies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsaldente.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Cade-Cunningham-in-the-2nd-half.webp\")