DETROIT — Jayson Tatum’s 34 points helped the Boston Celtics (38-16) cruise past the worst eastern conference team in the Detroit Pistons (14-41) Monday night, 111-99.

In a night when Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart were both out, it was up to Tatum to step up. Tatum ended up with a double double with 11 rebounds and 6 assists. He scored 18 points in the third quarter.

Although Tatum balled out, it was two other players that made a big impact. Malcolm Brogdon dropped 16 off the bench, and Derrick White had 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Both players made a combined six 3s.

Sam Hauser also stepped up as a starter with 15 points, all being from behind the arc. Robert Williams also came up with a double double 15 points and 15 rebounds. The C’s were going back and forth for the first half. But the C’s were able to pull away thanks to Tatum taking over in the third quarter. The Pistons weren’t able to come back.

“He took what the defense gave him,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He got downhill. He was aggressive. I thought he took some really good shots early in the shot clock to keep his confidence going.”

Bojan Bogdanović led the scoring for Detroit with 21 points. French-American player Killian Hayes came off the bench and scored 17.

The C’s will head back to Boston and face the Philadelphia 76ers in a potential future playoff matchup Wednesday.