Caldwell-Pope, Pistons pound Celtics
BOSTON -- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led a group of four 20-point scorers for Detroit, dropping 25 points as the Pistons beat the Boston Celtics 121-114 on Wednesday night at TD Garden.
Tobias Harris scored 21 and Marcus Morris added 20 for Detroit (10-10), which has won four of its last five games. Ish Smith approached a triple-double with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Andre Drummond, who received his first career ejection during Tuesday's 112-89 win over the Charlotte Hornets after throwing an elbow at Roy Hibbert, had 20 points and 17 rebounds.
The Pistons shot 55.2 percent (48 of 87) from the field and their 121 points were a season-high.
Isaiah Thomas totaled a game-high 27 points and Kelly Olynyk contributed 19 points off the bench for Boston (10-8), which has dropped two of three.
Avery Bradley finished with 14 points, but struggled to the tune of 4 of 12 shooting for the Celtics. He was held to three points over the first three periods.
Jae Crowder also had 14 points for Boston.
Thomas' jumper with 7:18 on the clock in the first quarter put the Celtics ahead 11-9, but back-to-back buckets from Drummond put the Pistons in the driver's seat until the 7:27 mark of the fourth quarter.
Detroit led 31-28 after one and led by as many as eight in the second quarter. Thomas scored eight in the period and 16 in the first half to keep Boston within striking distance, down 59-53 at halftime.
The Pistons opened a 10-point lead at 90-80 on Jon Leuer's dunk with 1:24 left in the third. Boos rained down from the Garden crowd as the Celtics fell behind 92-84 after three.
A couple of Crowder baskets brought Boston within 94-92 with 7:42 to play.
Terry Rozier sank a free throw to finish off a three-point play and give the Celtics a 95-94 lead with 7:27 left, but Marcus Morris hit two free throws at the 7:00 mark to give the lead back to Detroit.
The Pistons didn't trail after that and again stretched their lead to double digits before letting Boston within 118-114 with less than 20 seconds to play.
NOTES: Boston C Al Horford returned to the lineup after missing Monday's win against the Miami Heat due to the birth of his daughter the day before. Horford was criticized by a local radio host for missing the game. "My family's very important to me," Horford said Tuesday. "Everybody has their opinion. I respect anything that anybody has to say." ... Celtics F Jae Crowder no longer has a minutes restriction six games after returning from a left ankle sprain. "Nobody's told me about a minutes restriction since before the Miami game," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. ... Detroit G Reggie Bullock (left knee meniscus tear) is still waiting to receive a second opinion. "Not going as fast as I would like," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. ... Pistons PG Reggie Jackson (left knee rehab) missed his 20th consecutive game. ... Boston hosts the Sacramento Kings and Detroit visits the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.