Late miscues derail big game from Celtics stars in loss to Pistons

The Celtics already have defeated the Eastern Conference leaders once at TD Garden this season They nearly pulled off that feat again Monday night Boston got big scoring nights from stars Jaylen Brown points on -of- shooting and Derrick White season-high points on -of- but crunch-time errors from both proved costly in a - loss to the first-place Detroit Pistons Brown went -for- from the foul line including a pair of misses with remaining and the Celtics down four White after scoring fourth-quarter points committed the last of his four turnovers with a minute to play Cade Cunningham scored points and hit a season-high six -pointers to lead the Pistons who improved to - The Celtics who handed Detroit one of its five losses on Nov dropped their second straight meeting to fall to - Boston will close out a stretch of just three games in days when it hosts the Miami Heat on Friday p m Quick-trigger -pointers by Payton Pritchard Pritchard again and Jordan Walsh on consecutive Celtics possessions put Boston up - and triggered an early timeout by Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff Walsh s three gave him an even field-goal percentage from beyond the arc this season a major improvement from the mark he posted in Years and with the Celtics The -year-old also held up well early in his defensive assignment against Cunningham stuffing the All-Star point guard in the lane after picking him up full-court But back-to-back fouls including an ill-advised reach-in prompted Mazzulla to pull Walsh and insert Hugo Gonzalez Cunningham this instant shook the Celtics rookie for a -pointer that sparked a - Pistons run Boston controlled the rest of the first quarter however responding with a Brown-led - run Brown scored on three straight trips down the floor then located Gonzalez for two open looks in front of the Boston bench Gonzalez missed the first but drilled the second like Walsh he s exceeded expectations as an outside shooter this season entering Monday The Celtics shot in the opening period to Detroit s and led - The Celtics lost a core reserve early in the second quarter when Sam Hauser landed awkwardly after a Cunningham basket Hauser limped to the locker room and sat out the rest of the challenge with what the crew called a left ankle sprain leaving Boston short an option on the wing Hauser Pritchard and Anfernee Simons are the only players who have played in all Celtics games this season Boston s efficiency dropped in the second the Celtics attempted eight -pointers in the quarter and missed all of them but it weathered a Detroit charge to carry a - lead into halftime Neemias Queta gave his association a boost by notching a layup a block and an alley-oop dunk in a -second span and Brown and White combined to outcome the final nine points of the half Gonzalez started the second half over Walsh who by that point had collected three fouls in six minutes of floor time But fouling was an issue for Gonzalez as well He picked up his third six seconds into the third quarter and his fourth a minute later leading Mazzulla to call him to the bench as well Baylor Scheierman replaced Gonzalez with Walsh not checking back until more than halfway through the quarter Scheierman had a hand in another Queta highlight when he received the ball in the corner after a Brown steal then identified the big man up top Queta evaded Duren and drove for a powerful two-handed slam Chippiness and physicality escalated in the third quarter Brown and Isaiah Stewart who ve clashed before were hit with double technical fouls after jousting on a free-throw attempt and Celtics reserve Chris Boucher walked onto the court to have words for Detroit s bench during the ensuing review Walsh also absorbed a shoulder to the face from Jaden Ivey that did not draw a whistle and White was slow to get up after a fast-break collision under the Pistons basket All the while the Celtics continued to struggle from beyond the arc White s -pointer less than two minutes after halftime was the only one Boston hit in the quarter But the Celtics trailed just - heading into the fourth thanks in large part to Brown who played the entire third and eclipsed the -point plateau for the eighth time in his last nine games The Pistons stretched their lead to eight points early in the fourth but a slump-busting three by White cut it to three Detroit got it back to with a -pointer and a transition dunk both by ex-Celtic Javonte Green only to face another Boston rally Brown hit a step-back three and blocked two Pistons shots the second of which led to a White -pointer A Pistons miss and a midrange White jumper cut it to - But that was as close as the Celtics could get Brown s sixth and seventh missed free throws of the night followed by a White turnover and an off-the-mark three by Pritchard points -of- shooting doomed Boston s comeback bid