– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — The Boston Celtics spent the first quarter of tonight’s victory establishing their defensive might before spending the final three showcasing their fireworks on the offensive end once more — all without their leading scorer — in hitting a nice, round number in the win column for the season.
Payton Pritchard had another explosive outing off the bench with 27 points as the Celtics cruised to a 123-99 victory over the Detroit Pistons inside TD Garden on Thursday night. Pritchard and fellow guard Derrick White each made seven three-pointers as Boston, who was playing without Jayson Tatum as he sat out to rest a sore right knee, won for the fourth time in five games and registered its 20th win of the season.
The win was also the sixth game this season in which the Celtics have won by at least 20 points.
After the Celtics allowed just 16 points in the first quarter in opening up an 11-point lead (27-16) after the game’s first 12 minutes, they scored at least 30 points in each of the final three periods to turn the game into a rout. Six different players scored in double figures for Boston, with Kristaps Porzingis contributing 19 points and eight rebounds and Jaylen Brown going for 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Detroit struggled from long range, making just 2-of-19 from three-point territory in the first half and 7-of-37 for the game. Rookie Ron Holland II led the Pistons with 26 points while Cade Cunningham went for 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 27 pictures in total.
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