Pistons outgun Celtics, post back-to-back road wins

Boston —  The Pistons’ early season road struggles seem like a problem of the past.

Their 9-10 start was buoyed by a 7-2 record at The Palace, but after a win on the road at Charlotte on Tuesday night, they were looking to follow it up with another signature win against an above-.500 opponent.

Now they have a road winning streak to boast.

The Pistons got off to another hot start in the first quarter and held on to take a 121-114 victory over the Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Garden Arena. It’s another road win — on the second night of a back-to-back — and third road win of the season, a surprising turnaround after a dreadful 1-8 start.

BOX SCORE: Pistons 121, Celtics 114

Their 121 points was a season high, surpassing Tuesday’s 112 at Charlotte, and their 55 percent on field goals also was their best of the season.

“The last two games, we’ve gotten going shooting the ball a little bit, which has been good. If you play as well as we did offensively tonight, you’re going to win most nights,” coach Stan Van Gundy. “Coming in with the problems we’d had on the road, to play the way we played the last two nights against two teams who are over .500 and have good personnel and their entire roster  — and we we’re on a back-to-back, that was a hell of a win.”

All five Pistons starters scored in double figures, including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who had 25 points, five rebounds and four assists and Andre Drummond, who tied his season high with 20 points and added 17 rebounds.

Tobias Harris added 21 points and Marcus Morris 20 for the Pistons (10-10), who already have ensured a winning mark on their three-game eastern road trip.

But as much as the offense clicked, their play on the other end was just as critical.

“Our defense has ignited our offense,” said Ish Smith, who had a season-high 19 points, with eight rebounds and eight assists. “Even though we gave up 114, still defensively we got the stops we needed, got our run and that is what got us to the lead that we needed.”

Beating the Celtics wasn’t as easy as the lopsided win over the Hornets on Tuesday, though.

The Pistons built a 10-point lead late in the third quarter and looked to put the game away early in the fourth, but the Celtics had an 11-0 run, with back-to-back baskets by Jae Crowder (14 points) and a three-point play by Terry Rozier, to pull ahead, 95-94, with 7:27 left.

But the Pistons responded with a 9-0 spurt, as Morris converted a pair of free throws and Drummond split a pair of free throws. Then Morris and Harris hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 103-95 at the 5:08 mark.

The Celtics (10-8) closed within four on a putback dunk by Marcus Smart and a pair of free throws by Avery Bradley (14 points) but Caldwell-Pope answered with a 3-pointer and a breakaway dunk to provide a nine-point cushion.

Drummond had a putback dunk and Smith’s jumper gave the Pistons their largest lead of the game, 112-101, with 1:55 left.

Bradley hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Celtics close and they got within four in the final 20 seconds, but the Pistons held on.

Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 27 points and four assists, including seven straight Boston points during a stretch of the third quarter. But the Celtics relied mostly on 3-pointers, hoisting 42 in the game and converted 15 (36 percent).

The Pistons, who had a season-high 12 3-pointers on Tuesday, converted 9 of their 20 on Wednesday, including three by Harris and two each by Morris, Caldwell-Pope and Jon Leuer, who had 12 points.

Drummond had back-to-back baskets and Harris followed with a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter, a 7-0 run that gave the Pistons the lead, which they held until the Celtics’ fourth-quarter surge.

Drummond, who was ejected in Wednesday’s game, had some bounce in his step, collecting 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and added 10 rebounds in the first period. In the second quarter, the Celtics looked to foul Drummond intentionally — as several teams did last season — but Drummond made two of the four free throws and the Celtics relented.

“We played a team that’s playing really well. I thought they were terrific last night in Charlotte,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “They carried that right over to tonight. They played terrific and made shots.”