NBA: Celtics defense suffocate Pistons late en route to 5th straight win

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points Friday as the Boston Celtics rode a dominant 4th quarter to a 114-103 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons.

Tatum scored at least 30 points for a 5th straight game and added 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Jaylen Brown had 22 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists, and Marcus Smart added 20 points for Boston, which has notched 5 straight wins.

Boston expanded its 92-90 lead with 7 straight points to begin the 4th. Al Horford capped the run with back-to-back buckets that forced a Detroit timeout with 9:44 left.

Tatum's step-back 3-pointer and a Payton Pritchard jumper at the 6:53 mark put the hosts ahead by double digits for the first time, 104-94.

Boston didn't allow a field goal in the 4th quarter until there were 30.2 seconds left in the frame. It held a 22-13 scoring edge in the period.

Cade Cunningham had a team-high 27 points for the Pistons, who have lost back-to-back games following a 6-2 stretch. Jerami Grant and Marvin Bagley III each scored 20 for Detroit.

The Celtics used a 10-3 run to take their first lead at 14-13. Tatum finished the stretch with a drive and dunk with 6:29 left in the 1st.

A quick response lifted Detroit to a 23-19 lead at the four-minute mark, but the edge closed to 34-32 by quarter's end. Cunningham had 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Grant hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening 12 minutes as the Pistons shot 50 percent from the field.

Boston shot 10 of 17 and held a 29-28 scoring advantage in the second quarter to cut the visitors' lead to 62-61. The teams stacked runs as Detroit scored seven straight to break a 43-43 tie and Boston immediately knotted the game at 50-50 thanks in part to a Derrick White 3-pointer.

From the 5:12 mark until halftime, neither side led by more than three. It was more of the same to start the second half.

A three-point play by Grant Williams gave Boston an 86-82 lead -- its largest of the third quarter -- with 2:35 left, but 3-pointers by Saddiq Bey and Cunningham flipped the score back in Detroit's favor. White's layup in the final minute reestablished a 92-90 lead for the Celtics heading into the final period.

-reuters

NBA: Ball, Hornets end 6-game slide by pulverizing Pistons

LaMelo Ball racked up 31 points and 12 assists, Terry Rozier notched a triple-double and the visiting Charlotte Hornets snapped a 6-game losing streak by pounding the Detroit Pistons 141-119 on Friday.

Rozier had 25 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds as the Hornets defeated the Pistons for the 15th consecutive time. Miles Bridges supplied 25 points and Montrezl Harrell, acquired from Washington on Thursday, contributed 15 points and 6 rebounds in his Charlotte debut.

PJ Washington added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in 11 points. Charlotte had 36 assists on its 54 made field goals.

Detroit's losing streak increased to 7 games and 11 of its last 12.

Saddiq Bey led the Pistons with 25 points and Hamidou Diallo supplied 16 points with 7 rebounds. Isaiah Stewart had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Jerami Grant also scored 15. Killian Hayes added a double-double with 11 points and 12 assists.

The Hornets outscored the Pistons 43-26 in the 2nd quarter while racing to a 79-55 halftime lead. Charlotte's backcourt of Rozier and Ball combined for 32 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. Bey led the Pistons with 17 points.

The Hornets made 56.9 percent from the field and knocked down 9 3-pointers.

Charlotte was only up by 2 after Bey hit a 3-pointer with 11 minutes left in the half. The Hornets then reeled off 12 unanswered points, including 5 from Oubre.

Cade Cunningham made a 3-pointer with 7 minutes remaining in the half to cut Charlotte's lead to 52-43. Ball answered with a 3-pointer and the Hornets kept their lead in double digits the rest of the way. That basket sparked a 17-2 run, featuring 11 points from Rozier.

The Hornets led 90-70 midway through the 3rd quarter, then went on a 10-2 run. Ball made a pair of 3-pointers and Harrell capped it off with a dunk. Ball scored five points in the final minute of the half as Charlotte led 110-87 after 3 quarters.

-reuters