Moral Victories Are Usually Lame But There's Something To Be Said About How The Celtics Have Battled The Pistons Despite Falling Just Short

Brian Sevald. Getty Images.

Well well well, if it isn't my arch nemesis (close losses) rearing its ugly head once again. For those now keeping track at home, last night's 1 point loss to the 1 seeded Pistons marked the 8th time this season that the Boston Celtics have lost a game by 5 points or fewer. Here's the list:

PHI by 1 

PHI by 2 

UTA by 2 

MIN by 4 

DEN by 4 

SA by 5 

IND by 2 

DET by 1

Giphy Images.

Given the fact that the Celts have 16 total losses on the season, a quick counting exercise will tell you that 50% (8 of 16) of their losses this season have been by 5 points or less. Again…

Giphy Images.

Against these Pistons specifically, we've seen the Celts lose by 6 points because they gave up 30 2nd chance points (!!!!), a 3 point win after Tony Brothers tried to fuck them, a 7 point loss and now a 1 point loss. Very annoying!

Which brings me to my next point. I am once again split on how I feel. 

On one hand, you've been right there in 50% of your losses. In many ways, that's actually pretty damn encouraging given the context of the season. I mean, say half of those bounce another way, you're looking at a 30-12 record and you're right there for the 1 seed. There's something to be said about always being competitive and never really getting blown out. That tells you you're pretty damn good. There are also a bunch of bad losses to bad teams in that list, which isn't exactly ideal.

On the other hand, losses are still losses. Execution or lack thereof still matters. When you play your way into being an elite team like the 2025-26 Celtics have done, then these games and results matter. We still saw areas of concern that led to this loss, whether it was offensive execution, dealing with ball pressure, no shows from important players, a lack of rebounding, end of game execution etc. I'm supposed to just ignore that? Sorry, my brain is struggling with that. They happened.

Advertisement

The caveat, of course, and why if you prefer to be more optimistic with these results you aren't crazy, is the fact that this is all coming without Jayson Tatum. If you are able to hang with the best team in the East like this without your MVP-caliber player, it's not a stretch to assume that with him in the mix, a lot of the issues that have cost you these close games would be resolved.

At the same time, let's not pretend like the Celts never lost in the clutch with Tatum in the lineup, Even with him, these games still require execution. So while obviously he makes a MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE difference, the team we saw last night is good enough to win a game like this. Full stop. 

And let's be honest, during this stretch of their schedule, the Celts have had a handful of legit "tests". Two games against the Pistons (both losses), the close loss to the Nuggets, and the close loss to the Spurs. I've never been a math guy, but that's an 0-4 record during that stretch. Sure, it's losses by a combined 16 points, but Ls are Ls, even understanding the context around them. You don't get 0.5 wins because you lost a close game to a contender without Jayson Tatum. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. 

So, part of me is once again very annoyed that the Celts dropped yet another winnable game by a single possession. At the same time, the other part of me is encouraged by what we saw and have seen going up against the 1 seed all year while doing it without Tatum. Moral victories are usually pretty lame, but here it kind of makes sense given the context? It's all a little weird

Giphy Images.

With that said, let's dive in

The Good

- If there was one player who I would say stepped up and rose to the occasion in a game like this, it was Jaylen Brown. He wasn't perfect (more on this in a bit), but overall? He did his job. Offensively, he had to do most of the heavy lifting given the fact that the majority of the supporting cast no showed, and while 11-28 (2-8) is a litttttttttttle extreme for what I would consider an optimal shot balance, as you were watching the game it was clear that was really the only way the Celts were going to score for large stretches. He led the way with 32 points, led the team with 11 rebounds, and was really the only player to show up in the 4th quarter

Advertisement

Defensively, he took on the Cade assignment and for my money, was about as good as you could possibly ask from a guy who was also carrying such a heavy offensive load. He matched up with Cade on 30 possessions in this game and allowed just 2 points on 1-6 shooting. Of Cade's 14 AST, only 3 came on possessions against Jaylen. Given the fact that Cade is a 1st Team All NBA caliber player this season, I'd say that's pretty damn good defensive production. 

Overall, in a game of this magnitude facing a top seed, it's on the best player to show up and hold up their end of the bargain. That's the job of the #1. For the most part, Jaylen did that. I liked his aggressiveness in terms of getting into the paint and attacking the rim despite the Pistons size advantage, he kept them in it in the final moments with huge clutch time buckets, in a game like this, he gave you enough.

- I would also say the same thing about Sam Hauser. Coming off his 10 3PM effort against the Hawks, it was more of the same for one of the best shooters walking this earth

Advertisement

A more than solid 16/5 on 6-9 (4-7), I'm just not sure how anyone could be in favor of potentially flipping this level of shooting for random big man depth. This level of shooter doesn't exactly grow on trees, and then you add in the improved defense we continue to see from Hauser, and he's inching closer and closer to untouchable for me if we're talking for a 3rd big man. No thank you. I would like this spacing and shooting next to Jayson Tatum please and thank you.

After his early struggles, Hauser is now up to 39.5% from deep on the season which makes sense given he's a lifetime 40% shooter, and since Dec 1st (21 games) he's shooting 43% from deep on 7 a game. In 2026? That number is 46% on 8.7 3PA a game. Pretty valuable skillset if you ask me!

My one gripe with Hauser's game didn't even have anything to do with him. Given how well he was shooting the ball, I didn't love that Hauser didn't get a single FGA in his 7 4th quarter minutes. Not a single one. Meanwhile, outside of Jaylen's 4-8 that quarter, all other Celtics went 3-12 anad Hauser didn't get a single look. Not great! 

- It took a little while to get going, but Payton Pritchard was another player who I felt held up his end of the bargain in a game like this. So much is talked about how Payton never shows up against good teams, well I dunno, 17/3/3 on 5-8 (3-6) in 33 minutes against the #2 defense in the NBA feels like showing up to me.

The way Pritchard was able to use his body to absorb contact and finish at the rim was a big reason why the Celts were able to make that 2nd half push and get back into the game. His 10 points on 3-4 (1-2) in the 3rd quarter led the team and is what helped make this a 2 point game entering the 4th quarter, and he did it by showing his patience. 

Again, games like this are about everything pulling their weight, and an efficient 17/3/3 from Pritchard is what I would consider him pulling his weight. His outside shot was working early, he switched it up to high percentage looks late (which he made), he mostly took care of the ball and was the 2nd leading scorer in the game. He did his job.

- I actually had no issues whatsoever with the final play/shot etc. Joe got the ball to his best player who was able to get to his spot and rise up for a clean look. With 4 seconds to go, that's about as good a look as you could ask for and a shot nobody should even remotely be upset about. It just didn't drop. Oh well.

But given the caliber and quality of shots we've seen recently in this spot, I consider this an improvement. Unfortunate result, but good process

Advertisement

- One thing that stood out was the Celts success against the Pistons defense with Queta in the P&R. Just something to file away should these teams meet again in the Spring and Tatum is involved. It really did look like they found something there with Queta, which is a welcomed development in my opinion.

- Everything else was a bit of a disaster, so we can move on.

The Bad

- If this type of game/result felt familiar, it's because we basically just experienced it in the Pacers loss. While a lot of the attention may be put on the ending of a close game, for my money that's not where this game was decided. Just like in those previous losses, the turning point in this game came when we once again watched the Celtics score just 4 points in half of a quarter. This time, it was the 2nd quarter. 

Jaylen got his first rest of the game and well, things immediately went downhill. Anfernee Simons made a few jumpers in the first few minutes of the 2nd, and the Celts did not score again until the 6:16 mark of the quarter. What was a 31-28 lead with 10 minutes in the quarter became a 31-37 deficit before Jaylen checked back in 4 minutes later. Not great! 

This is what makes this team so hilarious. We JUST saw them drop 52 points in a quarter in their last game. Granted, that was against a horrendous defense and the Pistons are elite, but in this very game we saw them nearly score 30 in the 1st quarter. You then follow that up with 4 points in 6 minutes. Bad! Very bad! The Celts shot just 30/20% in the 2nd quarter while also committing 4 TOs, so really it was gross in all aspects of offense. 

This is exactly what happened in that Pacers loss (by 2) when the Celts scored 4 points in the first 6 minutes of the 3rd quarter and then the game completely flipped. That's where that game was lost, the same way this 2nd quarter stretch was a big factor in their latest close loss. Yes, clutch time needs to be better, but they also need to eliminate these quarters where they play half of it and only score 4 points. Tatum or no Tatum, there is enough talent on the floor at all times to score more than 2 baskets in 6 minutes. That was brutal.

- In games like these against this caliber of opponent, the margins could not be more important. And as we once again saw against the Pistons, the Celtics were very bad around the margins.

Their carelessness with the basketball (14 TOs) led to 19 Pistons points. They also finished with 9 OREB and 13 2nd chance points. So right there, that's 32 points off self inflicted wounds in a game you lost by 1 point.

WOOF

Shot margin? Celts lost that 88-83 and made 5 fewer FGM. FTs? 4 MASSIVE 4th quarter misses in a game you lost by 1. How many times did we see the Celts force an initial miss yet still give up additional possessions? It felt like every time down the floor. 

The only margin the Celts really dominated was the offensive glass, but that didn't exactly matter considering they lost the fastbreak point battle 20-5. 

When it came to ball security, we're once again seeing Jaylen be too careless with the ball. The dead ball TOs I can live with. A travel, an offensive foul, that's whatever. Shit happens. But what we're seeing an uptick in recently is his dribble drive live ball turnovers. Those are death. Too many of these types of turnovers for my liking recently

Advertisement

Dating back to the Nuggets loss on 1/7, Jaylen has finished a game with at least 4 TOs in 5 of the 6 games. He's finished with at least 5 TOs in 3 of them. That is far too many. Since the 12/28 loss, he's averaging 4.0 TOs a game, with what feels like a majority of them being live ball. The Celts' margin for error is so slim, the best player cannot be that careless with the basketball.

Multiple things can be true in my opinion. Jaylen has been incredible this season, and he has to carry a lot of the offensive load every night. True. It's also true that his ball security has been pretty dogshit for about a month now, and that's playing a role in these close losses. 

6 TOs vs the Blazers on 12/28 (L)

7 TOs vs the Nuggets on 1/7 (L)

5 TOs vs the Spurs on 1/10 (L)

4 TOs vs the Pistons on 1/19 (L)

Can't have that. It wouldn't be acceptable for Tatum as the lead guy, and it isn't acceptable for Jaylen as the lead guy. That's the truth.

- Now 9-13 in the clutch, I can't imagine anyone would try and argue that's "good", so this feels like a good spot to put it. A lot of their clutch time isssues are on the defensive end where the Celts rank towards the bottom of the league, but last night that wasn't really the issue. In fact, the Celts had a 125 ORTG / 100 DRTG in last night's clutch minutes, so they weren't even all that bad!

But in the end, the execution matters. When it came time to make plays, the Pistons simply made more of them. They found ways to execute on both ends of the floor and in such close games, it really all comes down to a play or two. You miss and they make, you don't rebound and they do, you miss FTs and they don't. There's a high level of variance in these situations, and so far this season the Celts have found themselves on the wrong side of it far too often.

- If you want to know why I obsess so much over FTs, this game is a great example of why. They are very important!

Between Pritchard missing a FT, Derrick White missing a tech FT, Queta missing a couple and then Jaylen Brown's big 2 misses, the Celts arguably lost this game at the FT line. In the 4th quarter specifically, they missed 4. FOUR!!

So far this season, Jaylen is only shooting around 58% in clutch time FTs. Not very good! The 8-10 is great, but when the two misses come in the final moments at a time when you cannot miss 2 FTs, that's a bit unfortunate. 

Add in 4 more TOs in the 4th quarter, and really the entire final 12 minutes was mostly dogshit

You had all the momentum after the 3rd quarter and you followed it up with that?

WOOF.

The Ugly

- Not sure where else I would put the performances of both Derrick White and Anfernee Simons, because they were both pretty brutal in this loss. The Celts needed anything from either guy down the stretch of this game and they came up about as empty as you can. A combined 0-7 (0-5) in the 4th quarter and a 5-22 (1-12) showing overall, it's just hard to win on the road against an elite team when your two scorers both lay eggs like that.

Advertisement

The DWhite 1-11 (0-6) was especially tough, and when you go back and look at almost all of these single possession losses this season, there's almost always a DWhite stinker to go along with it. Crazy if he goes 2-11 instead of 1-11 the Celts win this game, which is pretty annoying. 

Unfortunately, it looks like we've fallen back into a slump in 2026 with Derrick, as he's only shooting 36/25% in the 10 games so far this year. That screams give this player a rest day. He hasn't had a game off since 11/30, and it's clear his legs are cooked right now.

With Simons, he was probably due for a stinker given the run he's been on, and it's just unfortunate that it came in a game like this against a quality opponent. The Pistons physicality gave him some issues, and that's notable for once we get to the playoffs if he's still on the roster. Couldn't really beat anyone off the dribble, struggled to finish at the rim over size, and his 3 ball wasn't hitting either.  The hope is that Simons is able to make up for a DWhite performance when he struggles like that, so getting both players struggling in the same game was tough to overcome.

- Death by Tobias Harris jumpers is so fucking annoying. I mean seriously. That was some bullshit.

So in the end, like I said I'm not sure how to feel. Annoyed they fumbled yet another winnable close game, but encouraged that they just went toe to toe with the 1 seed and didn't look overmatched at all, despite not having their best player. I suppose you take it on the chin and move on, and the Celt schedule does start to lighten up here over their next 8 or so games. The good news is you still have some cushion in the 2 seed, but there's no denying this was a missed opportunity to extend that separation while the Knicks continue to slide. Oh well,