The Boston Celtics looked like they had righted the ship after losing three games in a row, but their back-to-back wins against the New Orleans Pelicans and Chicago Bulls was followed up by a loss to the hot-shooting Detroit Pistons.

The Celtics were without Jayson Taytum because of knee tendinitis and clearly missed his production.

The game was a close affair at halftime with Boston holding a 59-57 advantage, but Detroit used a 34-23 third quarter to pull ahead.

Derrick Rose (22 PTS, 2 REB, 6 AST) had a great night from the field and shot 11 of 13. He made a pull-up jumper with 5:07 left in the third quarter that gave the Pistons the lead for good. Sekou Doumbouya (24 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL) shot the lights out as well, going 10 of 13. Markus Morris (23 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST) was also a big factor off the bench, and even he made 9 of 14 shots. Sviatoslav Mykhailuk (21 PTS, 1 REB, 5 AST) was another energizing factor, and he made 6 of 9 buckets including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.

Andre Drummond (13 PTS, 13 REB, 7 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK) made his mark known on the boards, and he didn’t miss a shot.

Those five players shot a combined 76.3% from the floor, and the team as a whole shot 60.3% from the field. It was always going to be tough for the Celtics to win against a team that shoots the light out like that, especially when they were missing their second-leading scorer.

Gordon Hayward (25 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL) and Jaylen Brown (24 PTS, 12 REB, 2 AST) had decent games for Boston, but it simply wasn’t enough.

The Pistons, who have been missing star Blake Griffin since December, will look to add another win to their column when they face the bottom-dwelling Atlanta Hawks next.

Other Games

The Indiana Pacers rode Domantas Sabonis (29 PTS, 13 REB, 6 AST) to a 104-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Zach Lavine (30 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST) helped the short-handed Chicago Bulls beat the Washington Wizards 115-106.

Kendrick Nunn (33 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST) continued to impress and led the Miami Heat to a 106-100 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

The Philadelphia 76ers looked like they might drop the game against the Brooklyn Nets, but were saved by a late game run and a great night from Tobias Harris (34 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST).