Per Boston.com:
The Celtics narrowly avoided a deeply embarrassing loss on Thursday with a 128-122 victory over the Pistons in overtime…
At some point, the Pistons will win a game. When they do, the team they beat will have the ignominy of being the team that broke the longest losing streak in NBA history.
Last year’s perpetually frustrating Celtics would have been a prime candidate to be that team, and for 24 minutes to start the game, this year’s Celtics looked a little like last year’s group that routinely found the most infuriating ways imaginable to lose. They turned the ball over constantly, they let Cade Cunningham get into a nice groove, and after putting up impressive scoring totals throughout their West Coast road trip, they managed just 20 points in the second quarter and 47 by halftime. The Pistons took a 19-point lead into the break.
The Celtics couldn’t play much worse, and they are a much better basketball team than the Pistons, so a rally was somewhat inevitable. They needed just six minutes to get themselves back into the game, and they traded leads with the Pistons into the fourth quarter. Things appeared decided when they went up by six with just under two minutes remaining, but Jaden Ivey dragged the Pistons back equal again, and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, however, the talent gap finally swallowed the Pistons, and the Celtics pulled away.
