Detroit Pistons Coach Shares Honest Thoughts on Celtics

What makes the Boston Celtics successful in the eyes of the Detroit Pistons?

Dec 4, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket against Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) and forward Ronald Holland II (00) during the third quarter at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images / Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Returning to the court after a long break, the Detroit Pistons suffered a beatdown from the Boston Celtics.

Despite the Celtics missing one of their top players as Jayson Tatum took the night off to rest his knee, the Pistons didn’t seem to stand a chance against the champs.

What is it about the Celtics that makes such a difference from an outsider looking in?

“They just seem like they care about winning more than anything else,” Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff told reporters before Thursday’s game in Boston.

Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said the Celtics are one of the most unselfish teams he’s seen:

“Everybody goes out and they repeat what their stars do. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, those guys could shoot the ball every time they wanted to. But they sacrifice themselves to make the… pic.twitter.com/BkUJOVAA89

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) December 12, 2024

“You know, 99 percent of the time, it seems like they make the right simple pass to whoever it is that’s open. I know this sounds crazy, but there aren’t that many teams that, at that level, would just throw the ball to the open man. That shows the ultimate amount of trust in team.”

The Celtics are stacked up top, but they have valuable depth as well. Therefore, on a night where Tatum sits and Jaylen Brown scores just 14 points, they can still hold a lead of over 30 against a team like the Pistons, who have certainly had many competitive moments this year.

“Everybody goes out, and they just repeat what their stars do,” Bickerstaff added. “Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, those guys could shoot the ball anytime they want to, but they sacrifice themselves to make the right play over and over again. I think it sets the tone, and they build a great culture of that here. People should try and emulate that more.”

The Pistons’ struggles from three certainly didn’t do them any favors in the matchup. Taking 37 attempts from deep, Detroit hit on just 19 percent of their long-range shots in Boston.

As for the Celtics, they put up nearly 50 threes. They drained shots from beyond the arc at a 42 percent clip. By the end of the night, the Celtics defeated the Pistons 123-99 to advance to 20-5 on the year. As for the Pistons, they dropped to 10-16 on the season and lost their 12th-straight to Boston.