LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The league-leading Boston Celtics, fueled by 33 points from Jaylen Brown, beat the depleted Detroit Pistons 129-102 to push their National Basketball Association winning streak to eight games on Friday.
With teammates Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Jrue Holiday all out, Brown ably filled the void connecting on 13 of 19 shots from the field.
“(I) just tried to be aggressive coming out,” Brown — who notched his sixth game since the All-Star break of 30 or more points — told NBC Sports Boston. “I know we had some guys out.”
Brown said he tried to keep his teammates involved, and even though he ended up with zero assists Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he was doing all the right things.
“He’s getting the shots he wants, both for himself and his teammates,” Mazzulla said. “he’s playing very well-rounded basketball and it has been fun to watch.”
Peyton Pritchard added 20 points and Derrick White and Kristpas Porzingis scored 19 apiece for Boston, who improved their league-best record to 56-14.
Tatum sat out the first game of a six-game road trip to rest a troublesome ankle. Horford was sidelined by a toe injury and Holiday by an arm injury.
