BOSTON — The Celtics reached a new level of domination against the Pistons with yet another blowout win on Thursday night at TD Garden. Boston took a 3-0 lead in the season series with the victory and have now won 12 consecutive games against the Pistons dating back to February 2022. That stretch is the second longest active winning streak by a team against an opponent currently in the NBA, tying the Clippers 12-game winning streak against the Hornets. The Thunder (14 straight wins against the Blazers) currently hold the longest active streak in the NBA.
Two of those victories against the Pistons this year have come without Jayson Tatum (knee soreness). However, Joe Mazzulla credits his roster for the consistency in the team’s performances no matter who is on the floor.
“I think it starts with just the guys that we have in the locker room,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s important to know that we do have egos. We just put them in the right place. It’s not that we shouldn’t have them. We should have them as long as they’re put in the right place. So I think it’s with the character of guys, and I think they have a trust and an understanding of what can lead to long-term success. And I think you have to commit to that every day, and I think the guys work to commit to that.”
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Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff has only been at the helm in Detroit for the last three of the Pistons losses to Boston but did his best to explain how the Celtics remain such a challenge without their All-Star.
“From an individual tendency standpoint, it changes some of the things that you do but they play the same way with or without him,” Bickerstaff said. “They move the ball. This is one of the more unselfish teams that we have seen consistently. They’ve got immense talent all over the floor, the way they space the floor, creating threes and those types of things.”
“So, it doesn’t change the way we try to guard them or what we try to do. Obviously it removes a guy who is extremely talented from the lineup but this team is good enough to figure out a way to beat you with the guys that they have.”
The Celtics will get one more chance to extend their streak against the Pistons on the road Feb. 26 but they still have a long way to go before setting the NBA record. The Lakers currently hold that mark with 27 consecutive wins against the Sacramento Kings from 1983-1988.
First appeared on www.masslive.com