The Celtics already have defeated the Eastern Conference leaders once at TD Garden this season. They nearly pulled off that feat again Monday night.
Boston got big scoring nights from stars Jaylen Brown (34 points on 13-of-25 shooting, eight rebounds, seven assists, three blocks) and Derrick White (season-high 31 points on 10-of-18), but crunch-time errors from both proved costly in a 112-105 loss to the first-place Detroit Pistons.
Brown went 7-for-14 from the foul line, including a pair of misses with 2:01 remaining and the Celtics down four. White, after scoring 14 fourth-quarter points, committed the last of his four turnovers with a minute to play.
Cade Cunningham scored 32 points and hit a season-high six 3-pointers to lead the Pistons, who improved to 21-5. The Celtics, who handed Detroit [one of its five losses](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/26/celtics-down-one-starter-upset-east-leading-pistons-in-instant-classic/) on Nov. 26, dropped their second straight game to fall to 15-11.
Boston, which shot just 26% from 3-point range in the loss (10-for-39), will close out a stretch of three games in 12 days when it hosts the Miami Heat on Friday (7 p.m.).
Quick-trigger 3-pointers by Payton Pritchard, Pritchard again and Jordan Walsh on consecutive Celtics possessions put Boston up 14-12 and triggered an early timeout by Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff.
Walsh’s three gave him an even 50% field-goal percentage from beyond the arc this season — a major improvement from the 26.6% mark he posted in Years 1 and 2 with the Celtics. The 21-year-old also held up well early in his defensive assignment against Cunningham, stuffing the All-Star point guard in the lane after picking him up full-court.
But back-to-back fouls, including an ill-advised reach-in, prompted Mazzulla to pull Walsh and insert Hugo Gonzalez. Cunningham immediately shook the Celtics rookie for a 3-pointer that sparked a 7-0 Pistons run.
Boston controlled the rest of the first quarter, however, responding with a Brown-led 14-0 run. Brown scored on three straight trips down the floor, then found Gonzalez for two open looks in front of the Boston bench.
Gonzalez missed the first but drilled the second; like Walsh, he’s exceeded expectations as an outside shooter this season (47.6% entering Monday). The Celtics shot 60% in the opening period to Detroit’s 38.5% and led 33-25.
The Celtics lost a core reserve early in the second quarter when Sam Hauser landed awkwardly after a Cunningham basket. Hauser limped to the locker room and sat out the rest of the game with what the team called a left ankle sprain, leaving Boston short an option on the wing.
Hauser, Pritchard and Anfernee Simons are the only players who have played in all 26 Celtics games this season.
Boston’s efficiency dropped in the second — the Celtics attempted eight 3-pointers in the quarter and missed all of them — but it weathered a Detroit charge to carry a 57-53 lead into halftime. Neemias Queta gave his team a boost by notching a layup, a block and an alley-oop dunk in a 27-second span, and Brown and White combined to score the final nine points of the half.
Gonzalez started the second half over Walsh, who by that point had collected three fouls in six minutes of floor time. But fouling was an issue for Gonzalez, as well. He picked up his third six seconds into the third quarter and his fourth a minute later, leading Mazzulla to call him to the bench, as well. Baylor Scheierman replaced Gonzalez, with Walsh not checking back until more than halfway through the quarter.
Scheierman had a hand in another Queta highlight when he received the ball in the corner after a Brown steal, then found the big man up top. Queta evaded Duren and drove for a powerful two-handed slam.
Chippiness and physicality escalated in the third quarter. Brown and Isaiah Stewart, who’ve clashed before, were hit with double technical fouls after jousting on a free-throw attempt, and Celtics reserve Chris Boucher walked onto the court to have words for Detroit’s bench during the ensuing review. Walsh also absorbed a shoulder to the face from Jaden Ivey that did not draw a whistle, and White was slow to get up after a fast-break collision under the Pistons’ basket.
All the while, the Celtics continued to struggle from beyond the arc. White’s 3-pointer less than two minutes after halftime was the only one Boston hit in the quarter. But the Celtics trailed just 85-81 heading into the fourth, thanks in large part to Brown, who played the entire third and eclipsed the 30-point plateau for the eighth time in his last nine games.
The Pistons stretched their lead to eight points early in the fourth, but a slump-busting three by White cut it to three. Detroit got it back to 10 with a 3-pointer and a transition dunk, both by ex-Celtic Javonte Green, only to face another Boston rally. Brown hit a step-back three and blocked two Pistons shots, the second of which led to a White 3-pointer. A Pistons miss and a midrange White jumper cut it to 104-102.
But that was as close as the Celtics could get. Brown’s sixth and seventh missed free throws of the night, followed by a White turnover and an off-the-mark three by Pritchard, doomed Boston’s comeback bid. Pritchard, who was listed as questionable for the game with a right neck spasm, finished with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting