“That’s multiple effort by Baynes,” Brian Scalabrine chirped. Indeed.

The Celtic center (with help) held Celtic-killer Andre Drummond scoreless for most of the game, grabbed 13 rebounds, and played terrific help defense while doing so, as Boston took care of business in Detroit, 91-81.

Baynes scored only six points, but his work in the paint and on the glass earned him player-of-the-game honors, and rightfully so. Drummond went through most of the evening scoreless, and ended the game with six points.

Top NBA advanced-stat defender

Boston’s favorite Australian meta-human also remains the NBA’s top rated defender, per our earlier report.

The Celtics, now 4-1 playing after a loss, mounted a balanced attack. Five Celtics — Horford (18), Brown (12), Tatum (11), Smart (12), and some guy named Irving (16) — scored in double figures. Brown, who added a couple rim-punishing dunks, led the team in =/- with a +16.

But it was Baynes who set the tone and put the clamps on Drummond.

“Baynes,” answered Al Horford, when asked which Celtic keyed the victory. “He made the difference for our group.”

“We were trying to pack the paint and make them make plays from outside,” said Baynes. “Last time, they really had whatever they wanted inside the paint, so tonight we wanted to go out there and try to control it a lot better. Five guys were working on a string for most of the night.”

On a night when Boston had to hop a flight to Chicago for a back-to-back, no Celtic played more than 33 minutes (Irving and Horford.) Baynes, who played only 13 minutes when the Pistons beat the Celtics last month in Boston, played a season-high 27.

Those B2B’s are not a BFD for the Celtics, though. They’re 24-15 in their last 39 during Brad Stevens’s tenure.