Playing their final game before the NBA All-Star break, the Boston Celtics will look to continue an unbeaten February when they host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
Boston’s NBA-leading win streak reached nine games with a 135-87 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. The Celtics, who are 7-0 in February, haven’t lost since Jan. 28 in Atlanta.
Jaylen Brown scored 29 points on 10-for-17 shooting to pace the Celtics against the Sixers. Boston built an 11-2 lead in less than three minutes, led by 27 at halftime and was up by 51 with 3:04 left. Brown hit five of his seven 3-point attempts, helping Boston set a single-game franchise record with 25 made triples.
“This is a game that we all talked about,” Brown said following the opener of Boston’s 11th back-to-back of the season. “We wanted this one, and we came out and got the job done.”
Jayson Tatum had 28 points, 12 rebounds and six assists against the 76ers, whose star Joel Embiid managed 19 points but shot just 3-for-9 from the field. Aaron Nesmith (18 points), Grant Williams (12) and Derrick White (11) also scored in double figures for the Celtics.
Boston’s Robert Williams III (right calf tightness) was unavailable in Philadelphia. Marcus Smart came out of the game late in the first half with a right ankle sprain after a drive to the basket, and he was ruled out shortly thereafter. He logged seven points and an assist in 12:42.
“(Smart) rolled his ankle pretty bad and was limping noticeably,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “(Wednesday) we’ll see how he feels, but it didn’t look great how he was walking.”
With Al Horford getting into early foul trouble, Daniel Theis notched five points, nine rebounds, two assists and a game-high four blocks in an extended return to the Celtics (19:46) after being reacquired from the Houston Rockets last week.
The Pistons, who have a 4-25 road record this season, are coming off a 103-94 loss at Washington on Monday. It was their eighth straight defeat dating back to a Jan. 30 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“You should be frustrated with losing and putting ourselves in this position,” Detroit coach Dwane Casey said. “Frustration, but don’t lose hope.”
Saddiq Bey had a team-high 24 points plus five rebounds and five assists against the Wizards. It was his second straight game and fifth in the last seven scoring at least 20.
Marvin Bagley III had 10 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes during his Detroit debut and first action since Jan. 29. Bagley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Duke, was acquired last week from the Sacramento Kings as part of a four-team trade that also included the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers.
“He was aggressive,” Bey said of Bagley. “It was good to stay on the offensive glass. Took a charge early. Shows his defensive awareness. We’re definitely going to need him and use him down the stretch.”
The Pistons also got 14 points from Jerami Grant. Cade Cunningham, one of the league’s top rookie scorers who was limited due to foul trouble, had 12.
Wednesday will be the second of four meetings between Boston and Detroit this season.
The Celtics were 102-93 winners in the Feb. 4 head-to-head series opener at Detroit, never trailing and allowing only 31 points in the first half. Tatum scored 19 of his game-high 24 points during the third quarter. Bey and Hamidou Diallo had 21 points apiece for the Pistons.
