Pistons at Celtics
The Boston Celtics' bench continues to provide a big boost as they inch their way up the Eastern Conference standings. Those reserves were big in a win at New York on Tuesday and will be relied on again in a quick turnaround Wednesday at home against Detroit.
Tyler Zeller had season highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds while fellow reserves Evan Turner (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Kelly Olynyk (13 points) chipped in plenty to help the Celtics pick up a 97-89 win over the Knicks. It was the sixth win in seven games for Boston, which has vaulted into a tie with Atlanta for fourth in the East. The Pistons got all five starters into double figures in a 105-100 win in Brooklyn on Monday, evening their mark at 1-1 on the current three-game road trip. They claimed the first meeting in Boston on Jan. 6 behind 24 points from Reggie Jackson, who is 5-0 in his NBA career in Beantown, where he starred for Boston College.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (26-23): Detroit is in the midst of a busy stretch in which it plays five contests in a span of seven days and things have been made more difficult by a series of nagging injuries, as Reggie Jackson (thumb), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (oblique), Ersan Ilyasova (thigh) and Marcus Morris (knee) are each at less than 100 percent. Coach Stan Van Gundy wonders if the physical issues are the primary reason his team has given up at least 100 points in seven of nine games this month. "I don't know if that's fatigue catching up 50 games in and we're in a tough stretch of the schedule where we're playing a lot … but I know we're a lot better defensively than what we've shown the last few weeks," Van Gundy told reporters at practice Tuesday.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (28-22): Boston's bench is averaging 47.4 points during its 6-1 run, and it has topped the 60-point mark twice in that stretch. While Olynyk has been on fire, shooting 47.1 percent from 3-point range since Dec. 1, Turner is stuffing the stat sheet with averages of 12.9 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals through the seven-game surge despite playing 30 or fewer minutes in each affair. All-Star Isaiah Thomas is averaging 25.7 points and 8.7 assists in three games against Detroit this season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons rookie F Stanley Johnson has scored in double figures in four straight games for the first time in his career.
2. Boston is 8-3 in the second game of back-to-backs.
3. Over his last 10 games, Pistons PG Brandon Jennings has scored five points or fewer eight times and at least 20 points in the other two contests.