Things don’t get any easier for the Celtics with the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons, in town on Monday night. Detroit had a franchise-record-tying 13-game win streak snapped in its last trip to Boston, when the Celtics prevailed in a nailbiter the day before Thanksgiving.

After all, the Celtics are in the early stages of a retooling process. Joe Mazzulla is coaching a roster full of unproven talent, fighting to prove they belong in the league. Interestingly, all three of Boston's young forwards,

Following his first three-game losing streak in two years, Jaylen Brown reiterated a belief he had stated several times before. This was in late October, after a frustrating road loss to the Detroit Pistons. At 0-3, Brown and the Boston Celtics were in an unfamiliar situation. He still wanted to give his young team time.

Tip-off for tonight's Pistons vs Celtics game is at 7 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.

The Boston Celtics are sitting third in the Eastern Conference, a position few expected entering a season widely viewed as their bridge year.That strong start has begun to clarify how the front office may approach the NBA Trade Deadline.

Forget tanking. Disregard the "gap year" talk. The Celtics look like genuine contenders in the wide-open Eastern Conference.

Before the Boston Celtics fell to a 101-116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, Dec. 11, they had been on a five-game winning streak. Since Joe Mazzulla began running a small-ball rotation with the second unit, Boston has been a much-improved team and has started to prove its doubters wrong.