The Boston Celtics blew out the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. But the story of the game was the bench unit.
Boston’s reserve players combined for 49 points, including a career-high 18 for Grant Williams, in the 114-93 win at TD Garden. Yes, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had 26 points apiece, but the bench picked up crucial points and did its job well with the team being down Gordon Hayward (foot) and Marcus Smart (eye infection).
Brad Stevens, for one, was pleased with what he saw.
“The two young wings were really good. Jaylen and Jayson were really good. I thought our bench was really good,” he said to NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Everybody that played was a positive. That’s a good thing because obviously we’re leaning on a bunch of different guys.”
The C’s will need the bench to be on its A-game going forward, especially with unknown timetables for both Hayward and Smart.
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Pistons-Celtics game:
— Kemba Walker only dropped two points but did have a game-high 11 assists.
Because of Tatum and Brown’s 26 points, and a strong performance by the bench, it didn’t make too much of a difference. That’s certainly a good sign for the C’s knowing not one lone player needs to carry the load each game.
— Stevens was much happier with his team’s defensive effort after a not-so-great showing against the Dallas Mavericks.
“Better. Gave up some open shots there in the start of the first and fourth,” he said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “But for the most part we flew around better.”
— Williams had a huge night with his 18 points. But his confidence didn’t come from his first shot being a 3-pointer.
“Honestly my teammates … they gave me confidence the entire season,” he said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “… I just came in with the confidence they instilled in me.”
— Tacko Fall checked into the game with 4:31 left in the fourth much to the pleasure of the crowd as the “We want Tacko!” chants were playoff-loud throughout TD Garden.
The moment Coach Stevens caved and let Tacko check in ? pic.twitter.com/L7NPrcwwtS
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) December 21, 2019
“… I think we all wanna see Tacko and see Tacko do well,” Stevens said. “So I’m happy he played well.”
And what does the 7-foot-5 big man think of the chants?
“Tonight was intense,” he said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Usually its once or twice. … in the third quarter it kept going. …I knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. JT tried to force me to go in first then coach was amping up the crowd even more.”
Fall dropped five points and had two rebounds in the win.
— Romeo Langford netted his first career points in the game. He finished the contest with six.
— The C’s now have won six of their last eight games.
