Horford putback in final seconds lifts Celtics past Pistons
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Al Horford scored on a putback with 1.3 seconds remaining in his return to action, giving the Boston Celtics a 94-92 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday at The Palace.
Horford had 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Boston (7-6). He also sealed the victory by blocking an Aron Baynes shot just before the final buzzer.
Horford missed the previous nine games while recovering from a concussion.
Another member of the Celtics starting frontcourt also returned after being out for an extended period. Jae Crowder, who sat out eight games with a left ankle sprain, had nine points and four assists.
Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas supplied 24 points and eight assists and backcourt partner Avery Bradley chipped in 13 points.
Andre Drummond led the Pistons (6-8), who lost at home for the first time this season, with 20 points and 17 rebounds. Drummond surpassed the 4,000-rebound mark for his career.
Marcus Morris had a team-high 24 points, Tobias Harris contributed 19 and Ish Smith added 12 for Detroit.
Both teams were coming off double-digit losses on Friday night. The Celtics lost to Golden State, 104-88, and the Pistons were blown out by Cleveland, 104-81.
The Celtics opened the second half with an 8-2 spurt to take a 58-49 lead. Detroit responded with an 11-0 run, capped by a Drummond alley-oop dunk.
Detroit took its biggest lead at 71-64 on Smith's coast-to-coast layup. The Celtics then finished the quarter on a 7-2 run to make it a two-point game entering the fourth.
Neither side led by more than four points in the fourth. Morris shot over Thomas on a switch to tie the game at 84 with 2:52 remaining. Bradley responded with a layup before Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drained his first bucket, a 3-pointer, to give Detroit a one-point edge.
After Horford and Drummond traded baskets, a Thomas layup with 1:10 left gave Boston a 90-89 lead. Thomas tossed in a pair of free throws with 30.5 seconds left for a three-point advantage.
Harris knocked down a corner trey with 23.2 seconds left to tie it. Crowder missed a jump shot but Horford won the scrum for the loose ball and scored with 1.3 seconds left.
Horford had 12 points and six rebounds by halftime, lifting the Celtics to a 50-47 lead. Thomas was also effective, collecting 13 points and six assists. All of the Pistons' frontcourt starters reached double digits by the break, with Morris' 14 leading the way.
NOTES: Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy pondered a lineup change but decided to put off any moves. "My staff's point was to take tomorrow and think about it," he said. "Right now, having time to think is hard when ... you're just playing all the time." ... Boston was completing a home/away back-to-back, one of eight such back-to-backs on its schedule. ... Celtics PG Isaiah Thomas was averaging 9.0 fourth-quarter points, second only to Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (9.8). ... Pistons C Andre Drummond entered the game with 121 double-doubles since the 2014-15 season, the most in the league. ... Detroit won six of the last eight meetings at home. ... The teams face each other once more this month on Nov. 30 at Boston's TD Garden.