The Boston Celtics started off slow defensively and quickly dug themselves into a hole after a 66-point first half from Detroit that outscored Boston by 19-points at the half. But the Celtics opened the third quarter on a 15-6 run to start the comeback needed to remain undefeated at the TD Garden.

Boston’s third quarter takeover led by Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis combining for 23-points on 8-of-11 shooting was enough for the Celtics to tie the game at 82-points at the end of third quarter. The Celtics scored 35-points total in the quarter and outscored the Pistons by 21.

The momentum rolled into overtime as Boston scored another 20-points to secure the win. It was Porzingis who scored six-points and made the biggest assist of the game to Derrick White who scored 10-points in overtime to help seal the victory.

Despite Detroit’s near historic losing streak to start the season, they almost handed Boston their first loss of the season at the TD Garden by defeating the best team in the NBA.

It wasn’t a great shooting night from behind the arc for the Celtics, ending the game 28.2 percent shooting as a team from deep. Boston also finished with less rebounds and assists than Detroit in this game.

One last thing about this game, I want to shout out Porzingis for scoring 35-points. He flipped a switch in the second half and it turned out to be everything the Celtics needed in this game.

This was the first night of a back-to-back for the Celtics as they have the Toronto Raptors coming to the Garden tonight. Considering that Al Horford played on Thursday, he’s likely not going to play on Friday as he doesn’t play in back-to-back games.

Jaylen Brown was out on Thursday due to a lower back contusion that he received from LeBron on Christmas. His status for tonight against Toronto is still unknown.

Celtics tipoff against the Raptors at 7:30 PM at the TD Garden.

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Photo Credit: Marc D’Amico, Celtics