Jaylen Brown misses buzzer beater: Six reasons why the Boston Celtics lost in Detroit

DETROIT --- The Celtics and Pistons engaged in a terminally slow slugfest that featured multiple reviews and an incredible amount of foul calls, on top of the usually slow pace of a national TV game’s extended breaks. The game was an intensely physical, back-and-forth affair with nine lead changes and 14 ties. In the end, the Pistons held on for the 104-103 win.

Jaylen Brown’s 13 first-quarter points got Boston an eight point lead at one point, but it settled at three heading into the second quarter. The Pistons won that quarter by 11 to take an eight-point lead into halftime thanks to good defense (four blocks and four Boston turnovers) and Tobias Harris waking up. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser combined for 18 in the third to help make it a two-point game going into the fourth. It looked like the Pistons were going to put the game away, but Brown scored eight points in the final 3:20 to keep it close. The Celtics had the ball with about four second left and a chance to win, but Brown’s fadeaway bounced out.

Here are six reasons why the Celtics lost this game

They turned the ball over too much (and Detroit barely turned it over at all)

The Celtics are one of the league’s best at valuing and protecting the ball, but they were too loose with it early in the game, turning it over nine times in the first half for 14 Pistons points. They were better in the second half, but they still turned it over with offensive fouls, costing themselves possessions. At one point, the Pistons had a 16-0 advantage in points off turnovers. The Celtics were finally able to force a couple of turnovers late, but the damage had been done.

Detroit’s rim protection was too much

The Celtics shot 8-14 inside the restricted area. The Pistons blocked nine shots in this game, and at least four of those blocks were responsible for the six misses (it’s tough to pinpoint exactly because NBA tracking data can be wonky, especially in the immediate aftermath of a game). No matter what the final numbers, the Celtics were not able to get to the rim without feeling a lot of pressure from the Pistons defense.

“You gotta give credit to them,” Brown said. “They're extremely physical. You feel it on every possession the whole game. I feel like we matched the level of intensity. We matched the level of physicality. But we just came up short."

The Celtics were dealing with foul trouble

It was better in the second half, but Luka Garza got into foul trouble early and then Neemias Queta joined him later in the four-foul club. The Celtics turned to Xavier Tillman for a stretch, but he seemed to be playing too fast. He came out and didn’t return. Mazzulla went with Baylor Scheiermand at center for a short stretch, which was mostly uneventful but not ideal.

They missed too many key free throws

It’s not about the volume of free throws Boston missed, it’s when they missed them. The Celtics went into the fourth quarter shooting 18-20 from the line, but then they went 6-10 in the fourth quarter. There's nothing quite like missed fourth-quarter free throws to kill a team’s momentum.

The real killer was Brown’s two misses with Boston down two and 1:58 on the clock. Tobias Harris hit a 3 right after that, which magnified the misses. Brown nearly made up for it all, hitting his next two shots but missing the potential game-winner.

Jaylen Brown was inefficient (and the game had no real flow for anyone)

He was 4-8 in the fourth quarter, but 11-28 overall, and just 2-8 from 3. Brown’s 28 shot attempts were 17 more than anyone else, and it accounted for 34% of Boston’s field goal attempts. When you factor in the 10 free throws, it works out to be a very ball-dominant night for a low-efficiency Jaylen Brown.

He wasn’t alone, though. This game was dragged down by whistle after whistle and a bunch of reviews. It’s a wonder anyone got anything going.

“I was joking around during the game, like, I don't even have a sweat going at all,” Payton Pritchard said. “So it can be definitely hard, but they're going through it too, so it's like, no excuse. You gotta just perform.”

Pritchard is one of few Celtics who made the most of his shots. He was 5-8 on a night the team shot less than 40% overall.

Derrick White offensive stinker

This was a bad night for him. He shot 1-11 from the field, missing all of his 3-pointers for the second time on this road trip. His 0-3 night in Miami snapped a stretch of 77 games with a made 3-pointer for White, and then two games later, he was 0-6. White is known for making big shots in the fourth quarter, but he was 0-3 in this one, for zero points. He did have five offensive rebounds and five assists, and he blocked three shots as part of a nice defensive effort, but Boston needs more than four points from him.

OTHER NOTES

Jaylen Brown and Isaiah Stewart got into a little wrestling match in the first half, resulting in double-techs.
Sam Hauser’s roll continues. He shot 4-7 from 3 against Detroit, and is now shooting 47% from 3 in January.
Neemias Queta had been struggling from the free throw line, entering the game shooting 61% from 3. He went 8-10 from the line in Detroit, which raised his percentage to 63%.
Queta was also a team-best +15, which is impressive in a one-point loss.
Luka Garza kept up his reliable shooting, making 2-5 3-pointers.
Anfernee Simons struggled from deep, shooting 1-6 on 3-pointers.

Next up: The Celtics host the Pacers on Wednesday night.