The Boston Celtics began their road trip with a dominant win over the Detroit Pistons, 102-93.
Jayson Tatum helped the C's pull away in the third quarter when he dropped 19 of his 24 points. Jaylen Brown chipped in 13 points of his own, 10 of which came in the first quarter. Dennis Schroder added 10 points and five assists off the bench.
Hamidou Diallo and Saddiq Bey notched 21 points apiece for the Pistons and helped Detroit make things interesting in the fourth against Boston's reserves. The Celtics were able to hold on to earn their fourth-straight victory -- their longest streak of the season -- and sixth in their last seven games.
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Here are three instant takeaways from the Celtics' win, which brings them to 29-25 on the campaign. Their road trip continues Sunday night in Orlando.
C's defense continues to dominate
Boston entered with the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA at 106.1 and improved on that mark Friday night.
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The Celtics held the Pistons to only 31 points on 29.5% shooting in the first half. Outside of a late fourth-quarter run against Boston's reserves, it didn't get much better for Detroit from there. It finished just 34-of-104 from the floor (32.7%) despite its 37-point fourth-quarter outburst. It's the third time this season the C's have held a team under 33% shooting.
It's been against inferior competition, but the Celtics defense has been elite over the last couple of weeks. They've held teams under 100 points in five of their last seven games.
Jayson Tatum for the dunk contest?
Tatum will be in Cleveland for the 2022 NBA All-Star game after earning his third consecutive All-Star nod. The 23-year-old already said he doesn't want to participate in the 3-point contest, but what about the dunk competition?
That probably won't happen either, but Tatum provided a glimpse of the show he'd put on if he did participate. He got up for a pair of monstrous dunks during the third quarter.
If Tatum is interested in the dunk contest, it's tough to top that audition tape.
The dunks weren't the only highlights from Tatum in Friday's night's win. The C's star exploded for 19 points in that third quarter on 7-of-13 shooting (3-4 from 3).
He finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.
Marcus Smart-Robert Williams connection is strong
We've discussed Marcus Smart's playmaking plenty since he returned to the C's lineup, and he kept it going with six assists in Friday night's win. It certainly helps Smart's cause that he's able to lob it up to a guy like Robert Williams.
The Smart-Williams connection was a sight to behold again as the duo made it look easy at Little Caesars Arena.
Smart finished with six points and four rebounds to go with his six assists. Williams was a star once again for the C's as the walking double-double ended up with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks. He's one of several reasons the Celtics defense has arguably been the NBA's best as of late.