Three Studs, Three Duds As Shorthanded Celtics Defeat Pistons

The Boston Celtics failed to capture themselves a trip to Las Vegas as their NBA Cup bid reached its end, leaving the defending champions to focus solely on the regular season — starting with the Detroit Pistons.

Jayson Tatum (right patella tendinopathy) and Jrue Holiday (left knee tendinopathy) were ruled out Wednesday night, leaving Boston two starters short. The obvious disadvantage created a challenge amid a stretch of which the team’s played three games in four days, but the Celtics didn’t falter and came away with their ninth win at TD Garden this season and an 18-4 record.

Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 130-120 victory:

STUDS
Jaylen Brown
The reigning NBA Finals MVP was on a mission from the get-go, from victimizing Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart with an electric poster dunk in the first quarter to entering halftime with 23 points. Brown ended up with a game-leading 28 points, going 10-for-21 from the field with six rebounds, nine assists and three steals to barely fall short of a double-double.

Sam Hauser
Depth wasn’t an issue for the Celtics and Hauser’s step-up performance alleviated any concerns entering the night. Hauser, typically an off-the-bench contributor, provided starter-level production by scoring a season-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting with five 3-pointers, two rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Detroit’s grit
The Pistons wouldn’t go away easy. Boston took a lead as large as 20 points, but Detroit didn’t give in and cut the deficit down to nine points with 8:57 left in the fourth quarter, unsurprisingly prompting head coach Joe Mazzulla to call a timeout. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, although losing a fifth straight game, still deserves a commendable pat on the back for giving the Celtics a run for their money.

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DUDS
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Detroit’s failed miserably at supplementing Cade Cunningham’s double-double (27 points, 14 assists) and Hardway’s 25 minutes of cardio didn’t help. The 32-year-old knocked down just 1-of-2 shot attempts to provide only two points and three rebounds — tied for the fewest points scored by anyone for Detroit.

Jalen Duren
Typically, the Celtics live and die outside the perimeter but once Kristaps Porzingis and company began giving Duren hell, the team didn’t stop. Duren shot an ineffective 1-of-5 from the field, scored five points — three coming from the charity stripe — and committed four turnovers, which doubled the turnovers committed by Boston’s entire bench.

Gilbert Arenas (from afar)
The former All-Star guard ripped Payton Pritchard, questioning his playing time during Boston’s win over the Miami Heat on Monday night — even though Pritchard scored 25 points. Boston’s go-to sixth man finished with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists, and drilled a nail-in-the-coffin 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 128-120 lead with 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter.