Celtics Missing Key Players on Defense From Last Year's Team Evident in Pistons Loss

The Boston Celtics could not stop Cade Cunningham during a 112-105 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday night at the TD Garden. Cunningham hit two mid-range daggers in a row during the final two minutes to help seal the deal in a game Boston looked like the better team for in about 70% of the minutes, besides the 30% that mattered the most.

Overall, Cunningham's 32 was enough to carry a Pistons squad that otherwise didn't have a single 15-point scorer. Derrick White (31) and Jaylen Brown (34) were right there with Cunningham. If White and Brown had enough energy for the other side of the ball, perhaps Cunningham could've been slowed down.

White was on Cunningham when he won the game in the fourth quarter. If White didn't have to be their best rim-protector as well as the guy who defends the opposing team's best perimeter players, maybe he could've had more juice down the stretch.

Alas, Boston is shorthanded on the wing this year, relying on a combination of youth and minimum contract players. Hugo Gonzalez has a bright future and is earning his keep in the rotation, but relying on a rookie so heavily is rarely a championship strategy.

The Celtics did so much winning at the beginning of the season that the team's view on competing this season seemed to have shifted. Maybe that was premature. Maybe this team, as currently constructed, isn't built for the long haul, relying so heavily on Brown and White.

Clearly, they're missing two of their best defenders from the past two years, who helped the Celtics be top-five defenses and allowed Brown and White to focus more energy on scoring the ball.

Celtics Clearly Missing Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday

While Jayson Tatum may return this season, Jrue Holiday is now a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. Boston has maintained its standard on the defensive side of the ball without them, but they don't have Holiday's timely man-to-man defense or Tatum's disruptive length that could've helped last night.

The Celtics did well to move off Holiday's massive deal, which he'll have through his late-30s. But their strategy dictated not directly replacing him until Tatum returned. If this is a win-now team, and Tatum is truly on the mend, returning to the lineup imminently, Brad Stevens and Co. need to find his veteran replacement soon.