DETROIT — The Boston Celtics proved Friday night that they could win the close games after defeating the Detroit Pistons in a close one, final score 124-118.

The first two games for the Celtics (3-0) to start the season were in blowout fashion that led to the C’s winning. Beating the Knicks and the Wizards were mostly due to the hot shooting, however, the Pistons gave the C’s all they can handle. The first half looked a lot like their hot shooting against the Knicks, but this time the C’s cooled off at the top of the third quarter. The lead that was once 23 points, eventually disappeared and the Pistons ended up leading the game with three minutes left in the third quarter. Pistons went on a 16-3 run and the C’s didn’t get a field goal for over four minutes. The 73-62 lead at halftime the Celtics had eventually turned into a narrow 93-92 lead going into the fourth quarter. At a point in the fourth quarter, the Pistons was up six points with a little bit over four minutes left.

What changed the outlook of the game was the fact that the C’s began to get too trigger happy from deep. The offense began to stall out, and the Pistons began to switch out on defense flawlessly and contest every shot. Pistons also took over the paint on both ends of the floor, they won the battle, scoring 56 points down low compared to the C’s 28.

On the bright side, the C’s were able to still pull off the victory down the stretch. Jayson Tatum began to be more aggressive and knock down tough shots in clutch moments. Tatum led with 37 points, while Jaylen Brown finished with 24 points and 10 boards. The Celtics still managed to hit 22 three-pointers on 45% shooting. The defense of the C’s also made key stops.

“Find a way to win, figure it out. It’s not always going to be pretty. We understand who we are and what comes with that. We’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” said Tatum after the game.

It took an entire team effort from the Celtics to pull the game out. Derrick White and Al Horford each had 17 points. Payton Pritchard came off the bench and scored 19 points.

For Detroit, Jaden Ivey finished with 26 points, Cade Cunningham had 21 points, 10 assists and six boards. Pistons fall to 0-3 and are still looking for their win on the season.

Celtics will go back home and play the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.