Pistons-Celtics Takeaways: No buckets for Kemba Walker? No problem for the Celtics

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BOSTON -- On more than one occasion, Kemba Walker has talked about how refreshing things are in Boston, knowing he doesn’t have to make a ton of shots for his team to win akin to what he had to do most nights in Charlotte. 

There’s not making shots, and then there’s not making any shots which Walker did on Friday. 

And yet even with their best scorer missing all … of his shots from the field, the Celtics still had no problem putting away the Detroit Pistons, 114-93. 

Only once in the 629 games Walker had played in prior to Friday night, has he failed to make a single basket in a game he was healthy enough to finish.  

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His only other 0-for-the-night performance came on Nov. 26, 2012 when he was in Charlotte. Walker missed all six of his shots from the field that night as the Hornets were stomped by 45 points at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Instead of steady probing for his own shot, Walker made a conscious effort as the game progressed to get his teammates going, finishing with a season-high 11 assists. 

GRANT WILLIAMS

Even before Boston’s bigs were falling by the wayside, Grant Williams had established himself as a contributor even if his individual stats suggested otherwise. But Friday night against Detroit saw Williams’ impact both in terms of the final score as well as his own numbers as he finished with a career-high 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting which included a pair of 3-pointers. 

His ability to impact the game as a scorer will be important for the Celtics as they hit a brutal stretch of games in January, a period of time in which there are going to be some core players who will have their minutes trimmed or be held out altogether. 

FIRE AND ICE AT IT AGAIN

The Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown tandem continues to play off one another at an exceptionally high level. Tatum got things going with strong first quarter in which he scored 13 of his game high-tying 26 points.

Brown got things cooking in the second quarter, finishing with 19 points at the half which included the final 10 points for Boston in the second quarter. And his final point total? 26 points, of course, which equaled Tatum’s point total for game-high scoring honors.

ENES KANTER

It took a minute, but Enes Kanter is starting to do more Enes Kanter-like things on the floor for Boston. Against the Pistons, he grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds to go with eight points. It was Kanter’s first back-to-back games this season with double-digit rebounds, bringing his average in Boston’s last three games to 13.3 rebounds per game. 

The timing of Kanter’s resurgence could not be any better, with very little support behind him and Daniel Theis when it comes to big centers now that Robert Williams (hip) and Vincent Poirier (pinkie finger) both out for at least three weeks with injuries. 

While the teams on the horizon may not rise to the level of title contenders, it’s vital for the Celtics to get as many players elevating their play through what will surely be a grueling stretch simply for the fact that the games will come with little downtime in between. 

TACKO FALL ON THE RISE AGAIN

While it may have been mop-up duty, Tacko Fall once again entered the game and made his presence felt in little to no time. He had five points in five minutes, making both of his field goals while splitting a pair of free throws. 

The fans began the “We want Tacko!” chants in the third quarter, but he didn’t enter the floor until the latter stages of the fourth quarter. 

And to his credit, he was ready to play when he got his number called. 

The next step for him?

To get on the floor when the game isn’t so far out of reach. 

Because as much as the fans love Tacko Fall, the Celtics need to see what he can do against better competition when there’s more at stake. 

And the likelihood of that happening will only increase in January with the Celtics and all their injuries at the center position. 

Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Hornets, which tips off Sunday at 5:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike and Tommy have the call at 6 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.

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