BOSTON — When the Celtics played perhaps their worst half of the season Thursday, all C’s coach Joe Mazzulla saw was an opportunity. Sure, they were down 19 points to the Pistons, who were on a 27-game losing streak coming into the game.
But bad halves are bound to happen over the long season — especially after coming back from a West Coast road trip. So Mazzulla instead spun the big deficit as a chance for the Celtics to show their meddle even with the first half’s imperfections. And that’s exactly what the C’s did as they overcame a surprisingly-pesky Pistons squad in overtime 128-122 at the Garden.
“We actually learned more from that game than we did probably playing the four games on the West Coast trip,” Mazzulla said. “That’s an opportunity to build a mindset and toughness. … To me, we gained a ton from tonight’s game. I thought it was an awesome opportunity. We said that at halftime, we have an opportunity to build toughness, to build a mindset.”
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Of course, very few people expected the Celtics to start the way they did. They boasted the league’s best record while the Pistons were on a historic losing streak. When the Pistons went up 21 points late in the first half, it was important for two reasons. It was not only the first time the C’s faced a 20-plus point deficit, it was also the first time the Pistons had a 20-plus point lead.
But as Mazzulla noted pregame, everyone expected Thursday’s game to go a certain way. Reality is often different, though, as it was Thursday. The Pistons made shots early, crashed the offensive glass all game and scrapped with the talented Celtics. So while they dropped their 28th straight game, the Pistons earned the Celtics’ respect by the end of the game.
So the Celtics picked up some mental toughness along the way Thursday. They’re still perfect at home at 15-0, along with a league-best 24-6 overall record. And perhaps the most important takeaway from Thursday’s game was the response in the second half and overtime to preserve the victory.
“We talked about it at shootaround today, the games always don’t go as you expect them to,” Jayson Tatum said. “Obviously, everybody knows the elephant in the room, their record. But they’re a talented team — they’re more talented than some of the other teams in the bottom end of the standings, especially individually. They got some really talented guys over there.”
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