"Ball Don't Lie. Ball Don't Fucking Lie" - The Celtics Gave Us Plenty To Be Thankful For With Easily Their Most Impressive Win Of The Season

Brian Fluharty. Getty Images.

I'd like to begin by wishing all you fine readers a happy Thanksgiving. If you somehow find yourself in need of something to help you pass the time today, you've come to the right place. Maybe you're hiding out in the bathroom right now, avoiding family. Maybe you're stuck traveling or something. On a day meant for reflection where we all talk about what we're thankful for, I'd just like to take a quick second and express how thankful I am for you, the fine reader of this blog. I'll forever be thankful for all of you, even the ones who only clicked on this link to scroll to the comments and maybe says something not so nice. I am thankful for you as well.

You see, it's because of all of you that I've even been able to live this life for the last 10+ years. That's something I'll never take for granted and will always be thankful for. I'm just a deranged individual who loves a basketball team far more than any well-adjusted adult should. So if you are someone who needs an escape at the moment, I got you. Come join us as we talk about the biggest and most impressive win of the young Boston Celtics season. It ruled. 

A few years ago, the Pistons entered the Garden owners of the longest losing streak in NBA history. When they were dropping 28 in a row, you did NOT want to be the team that snapped their streak. It nearly happened with the Celts barely pulling out a 129-127 OT win, and as it turns out, the Pistons would go on to win their very next game (vs TOR). 

Fast forward a couple seasons, and this time the Pistons entered the Garden with the longest active winning streak in the NBA, sitting at 13 in a row. At 15-2 they were sitting atop the Eastern Conference, and so far to this point of the season had been checking off every box of a team that makes a legit leap. The first time these two teams met, the Celts choked in horrific fashion down the stretch and lost a nailbiter because they were incapable of securing a rebound, so I was interested to see how this matchup was going to go a second time around, this time with the Celts not having their starting center (Neemias Queta) available. That's not exactly ideal given the size and rebounding ability of the Pistons.

What we got, was the best win of the year and I'm not even sure it's close. Only our beloved Celtics can go from losing to the 2-12 Nets at home to then beating the 15-2 Pistons at home without their starting center. It's why I continue say this is the most hilarious team of all time. It's both predictable and unbelievable all at the same time. On one hand, the Celts are sitting at 10-8 and 8th in the East, which is kind of shitty. On the other hand, had they not lost to the Nets and Jazz at home, this team would be on a 55 win pace. 

But you know what? I'm thankful for this Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde-ass team. They sure do know how to always keep things interesting, and personally I would like to thank them for not choking this game away and ruining my Thanksgiving. They came close, but that's living baby. Now 10-5 after their 0-3 start and 7-3 over their last 10 and 4 of their last 5, when they aren't puking all over themselves, this team is finding ways to win. Every night it might look a little different, and that's fine. 

We have a lot to get to, and there's no chance you're ready to go back to your family, so let's dive in.

The Good

- I am thankful for Derrick White. Until my final breath, I will never worry about Derrick White. I don't care if he's missed every shot he's taken for 2 months. I know that when I need Derrick White, Derrick White will show up for me. It's not only why he's Derrick White, it's why he's a champion. 

So in a game like this when we desperately needed someone to step up and help Jaylen Brown out offensively? Derrick White was there

Now THAT is the Derrick White we all know and love. The defense, the shotmaking, the 4th quarter play, I'd say Derrick picked the perfect time to have his best game of the season. And not to get ahead of myself, but he is shooting 40% from deep over his last 7 games, so water may be starting to find its level when it comes to his outside shooting. You can always tell when Derrick's shot is feeling good because of the types of 3PM he starts making. When he takes the zero hesitation pull up 3 off the dribble and that cashes? He's locked in and it's time to start finding him 3PAs. Then the C&S's show up and boom, you get a 27 point outburst including MASSIVE 4th quarter 3PMs, which are a Bald Derrick special.

To see a performance like this against a legit opponent and physical defense in the Pistons was encouraging, and given he was due for a night like this, I'm thankful the Basketball Gods rewarded him with one. He finished with 25 of his 27 in the 2nd half, including a huge 11 points on 3-3 (3-3) in his 6 minutes of action in the 4th. Hard to do better than that in my opinion. 

In a game that needed a legit #2 performance, that's what we got.

- In big games like this, it's also a non-negotiable that the best player not only show up, he set the tone for the rest of the team. These are the moments where your best player needs to show up and carry. Someone was going to have to match Cade's production, and that's exactly what Jaylen Brown did

How good of a start is Jaylen off to this season? I dunno, this seems pretty good in my humble opinion

and yesterday's win was just more of the same. After shrugging off a slow start, Jaylen did everything in this win. He provided the scoring, he led the team in rebounds, he led the team in assists, he was tied for the lead in blocks, he led the team in FAT and was tied in FTM. When the game was close late, Jaylen executed. Sure, he also took 32 shots which was a fuck ton and he also had 5 TOs which I can't say I love, but overall? Jaylen Brown did exactly what you need from a #1 option in this type of game. He's been playing at an insane level this entire season (2nd Team All NBA), and game after game continues to show that everything he's ever told us about his talent and his abilities has been the truth. 

When I say part of Jaylen's role isn't to just be productive but also set the example, there was one play in particular this really stood out to me, and it just so happened to come at one of the biggest moments of the night

Remember that blown box out against Kelly Oubre which lost the game? Here's the opposite of that. On a night where the Pistons once again dominated the offensive glass, where both Stewart and Duren were on the floor ready to make a play, look at how Jaylen moved Stewart on that box out. He threw his ass right out of the club! That helped open a lane for Payton to crash (after a GREAT tip by Amari) and that was that.

To me, this is leadership. This is your best player doing everything he can to secure a win, while also making up for his previous mistakes. That's accountability.

It was also noticable how Jaylen didn't let his early struggles impact the rest of his game or the rest of his night. That shit used to happen all the time in previous seasons, so it was great to see Jaylen stay the course and continue to play to his strengths. It wasn't always perfect, but it was good enough when it needed to be and that's what matters.

- OK, so is Baylor Scheierman having a moment right now? It's starting to feel that way, and when you take a step back and look at Baylor's Year 2 as a whole, he's actually having himself a pretty solid second season

Call the sample size what you want, but through 14 games Baylor is shooting 61/54% while also playing more than passable defense. Basically, whatever you thought the best-case scenario for Baylor's Year 2 might look like, that's what he's currently doing. Joe has started to reward him with a more consistent opportunity, and he continues to earn that trust with every outing. We're talking about the 10-15 minute role that's up for grabs, and nothing I've seen from Baylor so far this season suggests he hasn't made a legit case for that opportunity.

Heading into the year, we all pretty much agreed that for Baylor to see the floor, he had to make his open looks. He's done that. We all know that Joe isn't going to fully trust someone until he thinks they can hold up defensively, and that's exactly what Baylor has done. He looks to be in great shape, he's really moving his feet defensively and isn't playing lazy and just reaching instead, and the more we see him the more intrigued I get.

Remember, this is a tryout year for all these young wings. As crazy as it may be, they've ALL played well in their opportunities. It's a long season and there's more basketball to be played, but I don't know how you couldn't be impressed with the run Baylor is currently on. What he would look like in Year 2 was a legit question, and so far it's been even better than I imagined.

- The more we see the likes of Hugo/Walsh/Baylor/Minott show real signs, I can't help but yesterday was also our first indication that Brad Stevens hit on another young player. What a "debut" for Amari Williams

It was only 15 minutes, it was all I needed to see. The two blocks were great, the rebounding was decent enough, and what stood out to me most was that at no point did it feel like Amari was over his head. If anything, he looked like he belonged right away while going up against that Pistons frontcourt. The physicality of Duren was a great challenge for Amari, and I felt like he handled it well.

It was a tad disappointing they never really let him touch the ball offensively so we couldn't see his passing/offensive hub skills, but that will come in time. But for a team that DESPERATELY needs big man help, Amari has my attention. At the very least, I want to see more. The speed of the NBA didn't seem too much for him, defensively it was about as good as you could expect for a rookie getting their first real NBA minutes, and I think we all know how huge it would be to have found a potential young big for the future. It's arguably the most important piece of the puzzle to the next iteration of the roster.

- What a difference good guard play makes huh? We saw what happens when both DWhiter and Payton Pritchard no show, it's a disaster. But when they both show up?

This team is capable of beating anyone. I think that's the best way to describe the 2025-26 Celtics through 18 games. On any given night they can beat the best team in the Conference while also being the same team that can lose to the worst team in the Conference. I'm not sure there are too many teams like that in the league, and it's why this group keeps you on your toes.

What I do know is that I welcome the return of Payton Pritchard's jumper, and I particularly like it when it shows up at the same time as Derrick White's. That's how you end up making 20 3PM, and when the Celts make 20 3PM, they basically never lose

The Bad

- It's not very often the Celts lose the rebounding battle, the FTA battle, the points in the paint battle, the 2nd chance points battle, and the shot margin and still win the game. That's why as great as this win was and as great as it feels, let's not pretend like there weren't real issues that more often than not, lead to losses. You're not going to hit 20 3PM every night to save your ass, so to be outplayed in that many areas wasn't exactly what I would call good.

The Celts still really struggle at defending without fouling, this time another 27 fouls which led to 36 FTA. That shit is just not sustainable if your goal is to win basketball games. I don't think there's been a single game all season in which the Celts have taken more FTA than their opponent, and it's because they cannot stop fouling. Spotting every team 8-10 FTM is asking for trouble, and this wasn't even a game where the Celts forced a high amount of TOs (12), so the over aggressive approach didn't really do much other than send DET to the line.

- I don't think I've ever seen a team commit an 8-second violation coming out of halftime. What the fuck was that? That was bad.

- I'm not sure why people think the Pistons are frauds or whatever. That's a tough, physical team that dominates the glass and has a legit stud in Cade Cunningham. They may need another shooter or two, but during their entire streak you heard a lot of people trying to discredit it, and now having played the Pistons twice, I don't really get that take.

Are they 68 win pace good? Probably not. But this is very clearly a team taking a leap that had legit talent all over the floor. Is it because they were so bad a few years ago that people can't adjust to what they're currently seeing? Cade is legit. Duren is legit. They play hard as hell. What's not to like?

- I didn't mind the fouling up 3, logic tell you it's the smart thing to do in their situations. Was it perfectly executed? Eh, I wouldn't say that. So to me this was more of a right idea, wrong execution type of thing. If they hadn't fouled and the Pistons made a 3, everyone would be killing Joe. This time he played it straight, didn't get cute, and things still almost ended in disaster. A bit of a damned if you do damned if you don't situation, which I didn't love. Just once I'd like a stress free ending to a Celtics game which involves plays that are not stressful for 99.9% of the NBA.

The Ugly

- In the first meeting, the Celts allowed 19 OREB / 32 2nd chance points to this Pistons team. It was the biggest reason for that loss. Now playing the same froncourt without their starting center, how did the Celts do?

They allowed 21 OREB / 27 2nd chance points

Not great! Every single possession down the stretch of the 4th quarter consisted of no fewer than 3 OREB for the Pistons every time down the floor. It was infuriating to watch. Given the roster situation, Joe had to play Walsh at the 5 and go small, and the annoying part it wasn't like Duren was the one doing all the rebounding. It was the guards/wings. This team's refusal to box out late in games is legitimately going to make me crash the fuck out. It's like something happens to their brains where all 5 players on the floor forget how to box out. 

6 OREB in a single quarter, which accounted for nearly a third of the Pistons points in the 4th, is inexcusable. We all knew it would be an issue and had to be a point of emphasis, and it didn't matter one bit. The Pistons had their way on the glass, even when the Celts were in position

- Tony Brothers remains the absolute fucking worst to ever do it. An all time asshole. It sure is hard for me to take the NBA seriously and not think things are a little fishy and not on the level when I witness what Tony Brothers did in this game (and really every game he works to be honest). 

Of all his bullshit, none was worse than the final moments

For starters, that was the most on the floor foul of all time to anyone with eyes. The fact that Tony Brothers not only reversed that call, but also assigned the foul to Walsh when it was pretty fucking obvious that Josh Minott got him well before the gather

is such bullshit. That ref was right there looking at it! Tony Brothers is all the way across the court. Just an insane reversal that only Tony Brothers would make because he's the absolute worst to ever do it. 

Thankfully, the Basketball Gods intervened and Cade missed the 3rd FTA. Easily one of the biggest ball don't lie examples you'll ever see

Perfectly said Jaylen (who also had another game with a horrific whistle).

All in all, easily the best win of the year. Given how tough the schedule is during this stretch, it's all about stacking Ws at this point. However you need to do it, figure out a way to build that momentum. A brutal MIN/CLE back to back is up next this weekend, so there's no time to let up. Clean up the defense and rebounding a little bit, and the good times can keep on rolling. We're at an inflection point of the season right now, and I'd love to see another step forward as opposed to laying another egg and going backwards. That's what Play In/Lottery teams do. Good teams build on this momentum and take care of their shit on the road. We're about to see which one the 2025-26 Celts are.