Former Duke basketball star Jayson Tatum had to get creative against the historically lowly Pistons.
The Detroit Pistons (2-29) appeared to be on the path to snapping their single-season league record streak of 27 losses in Thursday night’s road game against the NBA-leading Boston Celtics (24-6) and their 25-year-old centerpiece in 2016-17 Duke basketball one-and-done and former No. 3 overall draft pick Jayson Tatum.
Detroit held a 66-47 halftime lead. Despite allowing Boston to erase that deficit in the third quarter, the Pistons forced overtime. But they fell, 128-122, matching the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost 28 straight between the late portion of their 2014-15 slate and early going in 2015-16, for the longest overall losing streak in NBA history.
Fortunately for the Celtics (15-0 at home this season), Tatum was adamant about producing consistent buckets while organising the crucial third-quarter comeback. He did so by all means necessary, as evidenced by this highlight:
Furthermore, if it hadn’t been for Tatum’s clutch scores late in the fourth, not to mention his 80-foot dime with 45 seconds left in overtime, Kristaps Porzingis might not have had the opportunity to lead Boston to victory in the extra five minutes.
And the Celtics would have gone down in history as the team who permitted the Pistons to avoid another devastating defeat.
In 43 minutes, Jayson Tatum had 31 points, seven rebounds, ten assists, five steals, and three turnovers. Not too shabby. However, the sure-to-be fifth-time All-Star has had better shooting nights, going 11-for-31 from the field, 2-for-11 from deep, and 7-for-8 at the line.
Marvin Bagley III, the Pistons’ 2017-18 Duke basketball one-and-done, has missed the last two games due to a back sprain.
So the 24-year-old big man and former No. 2 overall draft pick, who is averaging 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds this season, could claim he wasn’t to blame for Detroit’s home loss to the Lakers on Tuesday night Brooklyn Nets that broke the single-season record or the Thursday night heartache in Boston that tied the overall mark.
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