Grant's 24 Points Lead Pistons Past Celtics For 1st Win
DETROIT (AP) — Jeremi Grant scored 24 points and Derrick Rose added 17 as the Detroit Pistons won their first game of the season, beating the Boston Celtics 96-93 on Friday night.
Rookie Saddiq Bey added 17 points for the Pistons, who had lost four straight to start the season.
Jayson Tatum had 28 points for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown scored 25, but missed a tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.
The Pistons led by as many as 21 points in the first half and had a 55-40 advantage going into the third quarter, but the Celtics' defense got them back into the game. Boston had nine points off turnovers in the quarter to cut the deficit to 79-73.
Brown scored the first seven points of the fourth to give Boston its first lead, and Tatum's 3-pointer made it 93-88 with 4:15 to play. The Celtics, though, missed their next seven shots and Rose's layup put the Pistons ahead 94-93 with 1:20 left.
Saddiq Bey's free throw made it 95-93 with 25.5 seconds left, and Marcus Smart missed a tying shot with 5.6 seconds remaining.
Mason Plumlee missed the first of two free throws, giving the Celtics a last chance to tie the game, but Brown missed from the right wing.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Boston missed 11 of its first 13 shots from the floor to fall behind 23-5 with 3:46 left in the first quarter, but outscored the Pistons 35-32 for the rest of the first half. ... Robert Williams III left the game in the fourth quarter after banging legs with Rose.
Pistons: Grant had 18 points in the first half, including a highlight-reel dunk over Daniel Theis. ... Killian Hayes started at point guard despite a sore ankle. He had six assists and did not score in 23 minutes.
UP NEXT
The teams will face each other again on Sunday.
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