Pritchard scores 27 and hits 7 3-pointers to help Celtics earn 20th win, power past Pistons 123-99

BOSTON (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 27 points, and the Boston Celtics used a big second half to post their 20th victory and roll past the Detroit Pistons 123-99 on Thursday night.

Pritchard finished with seven 3-pointers to continue to build his early case for Sixth Man of the Year honors. Derrick White added 23 points and also had seven 3s help the Celtics win for the fourth time in five games. Pritchard made his 500th career 3-pointer, becoming the 10th Celtic to reach that mark.

Boston connected on 20 3s for the night and led by as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter. Six Celtics reached double figures.

Cade Cunningham had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Pistons.

Boston played without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who rested with a sore right knee. Sam Hauser also sat out with a strained abdominal muscle. Coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum’s knee issue isn’t serious.

Takeaways

Pistons: Coach J.B. Bickerstaff hoped his team would carry over the momentum from its previous win over the Knicks. Consistency remains elusive for a young team that has only posted back-to-back victories twice this season.

Celtics: After a slow start, Boston settled in during the second half and had a relatively easy outing. With Tatum resting, the offense was balanced, a positive sign for a team coming off its longest break between games this season.

Key moment

Boston outscored Detroit 34-24 in the third quarter to increase a 15-point halftime lead to 93-68 entering the fourth.

Key stat

The Pistons went 2 of 19 from the 3-point line in the first half and 7 of 37 for the game.

Up next

The Pistons host the Miami Heat on Monday. The Celtics visit the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

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