76ers Rival Avoids Becoming ‘That Team’ vs. Pistons on Thursday

The Boston Celtics avoided embarrassment against the Pistons on Thursday.
76ers Rival Avoids Becoming ‘That Team’ vs. Pistons on Thursday
76ers Rival Avoids Becoming ‘That Team’ vs. Pistons on Thursday /

The Detroit Pistons are losing games at a rate that the NBA hasn’t seen since the Philadelphia 76ers went through their tanking era.

On Tuesday night, a Pistons loss to the Brooklyn Nets marked their 27th in a row. On Thursday, the Pistons’ next opportunity to possibly snap the streak came when they faced the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the Boston Celtics.

On paper, it was easy to assume the Celtics were on an easy path to picking up their 24th win of the year, putting them nearly two games in front of the Milwaukee Bucks. 

But any given night against this year’s Pistons could be a trap game. They might be a struggling bunch, putting together an infamously historic run, but a potential combination of the Pistons playing harder to climb out of their slump for a night mixed with teams taking their foot off the gas could lead to a slip-up.

For the Celtics, they were almost “that team” on Thursday night as they hosted the Pistons.

Barely Getting By…

The Celtics were on upset watch through the first half of Thursday’s matchup. At halftime, the Pistons possessed a 66-47 lead. Unfortunately for them, they came out flat for the second half.

A 35-16 third-quarter showing for Boston allowed the Celtics to tie the game up before the fourth quarter. In the final quarter of regulation, the Celtics and the Pistons each scored 26 points. Detroit nearly made it out with an upset victory, but the Celtics gave themselves an additional five minutes of hoops to stay alive on the night.

Once the game reached overtime, Derrick White and the Celtics took control. White went 3-3 from the field, knocking down one of his threes. He also added three free throws from the charity stripe to score half of Boston’s 20 overtime points.

Meanwhile, the Pistons struggled from deep, going just 2-8 in the final five minutes. After getting outscored 20-14 in overtime, the Pistons allowed the Celtics to climb back from a 21-point deficit and collect a 128-122 win. With that loss, Detroit now has 28-straight. 

One of the Sixers’ top rivals in the East nearly became just the third team to fall short to the Pistons this season. However, the streak remains alive. Now, the Pistons will search for a win at home against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. 


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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA