No surprise Monday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The Pistons, the local team, 15th and last in the Eastern Conference, lost against the Boston Celtics (111-99), leaders of this same conference, in the NBA regular season. But Killian Hayes, the French leader from Detroit, managed to showcase himself. He indeed came close to double-double, scoring 17 points (7/16 in shooting including 3/7 from three points) and delivering nine assists. Hayes also completed his stat line with two rebounds, two steals and a block. All off the bench and in 32 minutes spent on the floor.
Detroit come back on a 3-point shoot from Hayes
Left behind at the start of the match (16-6, 6th), the Detroit Pistons then reacted, being only led 26-25 at the end of the first quarter. At the break, the Boston Celtics had a narrow lead (60-53), but they then widened a significant gap of 23 points (88-65, 33rd). The Michigan franchise, however, was able to return to six lengths (95-89, 41st), driven in particular by a three-point shot from Killian Hayes. But Boston went back and finally won.
Jayson Tatum was the Celtics’ best player, with 34 points and 11 rebounds. He had however started the match badly, missing his first five shots. Derrick White (23 pts) and Robert Williams (15 points, 15 rebounds) also stood out. Jaylen Brown, sick (but not Covid-19), did not play. In the ranks of the Pistons, Bojan Bogdanovic was the most prominent (21 pts).
Batum helps Clippers win
At the head of the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics keep a victory ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks, who won in Portland (127-108). They will play again on Wednesday against the Philadelphia 76ers, third in the same conference. Killian Hayes and the Detroit Pistons will be back on NBA courts the same day at the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Regarding the other French on the track Monday, Nicolas Batum scored nine points and took 11 rebounds, during the victory of the Los Angeles Clippers at the Brooklyn Nets (124-116). Moussa Diabaté did not come into play. Frank Ntilikina played little during the Dallas Mavericks’ victory over the Utah Jazz (124-111). He only spent seven minutes on the floor, for three assists, two rebounds and one block. Ousmane Dieng was not on the scoresheet during Oklahoma City’s heavy loss against Golden State (141-114).
