Drummond paces Pistons past Celtics

BOSTON - Avery Bradley had his homecoming, but nobody on the Pistons enjoys a trip to Boston more than Andre Drummond.

The Detroit center had season highs of 26 points and 22 rebounds on Monday night to spark a 118-108 victory and send the Celtics to their first home loss since their season curtain-raiser.

Tobias Harris scored 31 in the matchup of old-school rivals who are once again the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

"They'll remember it. That's one of those memorable games," said Drummond.

"We came in with them being the No 1 team and us getting a lot of points. Me being the hometown kid, having the night I did, that's something they'll have to remember."

Drummond had 10 rebounds in the first quarter and 11 points in the last 5:36 to help Detroit win for the third time in four games.

In 10 games in Boston, he has averaged 16.2 rebounds; it was the third time he grabbed 22 boards in the building.

"Andre was unbelievable tonight," Detroit guard Ish Smith said. "He was special."

Reggie Jackson scored 20 points with seven assists for the Pistons, who opened an 11-point lead in the first quarter but needed consecutive three-point plays from Drummond down the stretch to pull away.

Bradley, who played the first seven years of his career for the Celtics, received a standing ovation during pregame introductions, then scored 13 points.

"For them to show that respect to me means a lot," Bradley said. "This will always be my second home."

Marcus Smart scored 23 points, making 6 of 9 from 3-point range, and Kyrie Irving had 18 with nine assists for the Celtics.

Boston has lost two of four since a 16-game winning streak.

"They tried to take the ball out of Kyrie's hands, and they did so pretty successfully," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.

The score was tied 100-100 with 5:36 left before the Pistons pulled away thanks to Drummond.

With just over three minutes left, he intercepted a lazy inbound pass at midcourt and drove through for the dunk, drawing a foul from Irving.

The free throw made it 109-102.

It was 114-108 when Smart's long, leaning 3-point attempt rimmed out with 34 seconds left.

"We had a chance to win, but we had too many mistakes," Celtics center Al Horford said.

Associated Press

(China Daily 11/29/2017 page24)