Celtics take down Pistons for eighth straight win, Lakers claw past 76ers

Brown skillfully covered the vacuum left by teammates Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Jrue Holiday,

making 13 of 19 field goals.

In his sixth game since the All-Star break, Brown scored 30 or more points. “(I) just tried to be

aggressive coming out,” he said to NBC Sports Boston. “I know we had some guys out.”

Even though Brown finished with zero assists, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla claimed he was doing

everything correctly since he sought to include his teammates.

“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.”

Payton Pritchard added 20 points and Derrick White and Kristaps 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.

However, the Celtics were still too good for Detroit, who were in last place and without six players when

Jalen Duren was ruled out with back spasms just before tipoff.

For the Pistons, James Wiseman received his first start of the year and scored a team-high 24 points.

The Celtics extended the longest winning streak in the NBA by holding Detroit’s top scorer, Cade

Cunningham, to 15 points on six of 17 shooting.

After defeating the Raptors 123-103 in Toronto, the Oklahoma City Thunder reclaimed the lead in the

Western Conference, one game ahead of the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.

Oklahoma City’s Canadian point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points, grabbed seven

rebounds and handed out eight assists, and rookie center Chet Holmgren scored 18 points with 10

rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.