Irving, Celts beat Pistons

Boston — Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 31 points, Marcus Morris had 15 points and nine rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat Detroit 108105 on Tuesday night, handing the Pistons back-to-back losses after a 4-0 start.

Jayson Tatum scored 16, Jaylen Brown had 14 points and Al Horford scored 11 for Boston.

Blake Griffin had 24 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit, which couldn't recover after scoring just 13 points in the third quarter. The Pistons chopped Boston's 14-point lead down to a point with 4:21 left to play, and then again with 12 seconds remaining, but couldn't quite complete the comeback.

Boston, which beat Detroit on the road 109-89 on Saturday, is still the only team to beat the Pistons this season.

Andre Drummond had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Reggie Bullock scored 16 for Detroit. Ish Smith added 13 points off the bench and gave Detroit one more chance on a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to play, pulling Detroit within 103-102. But the Celtics sealed it from the foul line.

Tatum drew a foul and made both free shots with 10.5 seconds left, then Irving added two more from the line after Detroit turned the ball over on the inbound play.

The Pistons led 58-56 after a highpaced first half, but fell off in the third quarter, going 4 for 17 from the floor and missing all six attempts from 3-point range.

Irving took over in the third, scoring 13 and starting an early 10-0 run that put Boston up for good.

The Celtics are back home on Thursday night to face the Milwaukee Bucks.