BOSTON -- Even amid the twists of a long National Basketball Association season, opportunity exists for benchmark moments, particularly for a developing team.

The

have had several, including another Wednesday.

There is a not-so-subtle transition, prompted partly by injury-induced necessity, in how the Pistons close games.

Brandon Jennings has the ball, and not just because Rodney Stuckey's bum shoulder kept him out of a

in which Jennings made the game-winning shot and had 28 points and 14 assists, but by head coach Maurice Cheeks' tweaked design.

"He tells me to go be great with five minutes to go in the game," Jennings said of Cheeks, "so that's what I'm trying to do."

Cheeks told Jennings earlier this week, in the midst of the Pistons

Sunday then

Monday, that he would have the ball at closing time now.

It had been Stuckey before, but the veteran wasn't available late at Indiana, or at all against Boston.

And it has become clear that the head coach and point guard have become more in tune.

Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Jennings, right, shooting over the Boston Celtics' Phil Pressey, will have the ball in late-game situations in the future, head coach Maurice Cheeks said.

So it's Jennings' time now.

"He's the starting point guard, so whoever it is, the starting point guard, he should have the ball in his hands," Cheeks said Wednesday morning, several hours before the game. "They should be leading your team whether it's the first quarter or the fourth quarter. If they're not in foul trouble, the ball should be in their hands."

That was all Jennings needed.

The Pistons in the first period allowed a season-high 42 points in a quarter and fell behind by 21, then rallied steadily in their third consecutive game against a division-leading team, even if the Celtics' 12-15 record might not seem worthy of such status.

"If we want to be a top team in this league, we can't beat the best teams and then lose to teams that we should beat," Jennings said. "We gotta get these games."

The Pistons (13-14) won a close game, which has not been their habit in recent years, prompting Kyle Singler to call it "just a great win for us."

"We're still going to have games where we don't get those 50-50 balls," Singler said. "And we're going to come in here again and talk about that being one of the reasons why we lost. But the idea, and the key, is to have more games where you're talking about we did hustle and we did get those plays."

The Pistons also won for the sixth time in their last seven road games.

After 37 road wins the last four seasons, they are 7-6 on the road, the first time they have had a winning road record since winning their road opener in 2009-10.

Cheeks said the comeback victory "can pick us up," but said he thinks this week's road turnaround actually began with Sunday's home loss to the Trail Blazers on Damian Lillard's buzzer-beater.

"I think losing a tough game to Portland was as big as winning the game (at Indiana) because we just realized that we really had to come together and stay together and to make plays down the stretch of games," Cheeks said. "And tonight was another example of making plays down the stretch of the game.

"I just thought that loss against Portland made us to really come together to win the game against Indiana, and then to come in here and regroup once again and win this game tonight."

Jennings' four-point play in the third quarter gave the Pistons their first lead, 74-73.

And after Jared Sullinger took Andre Drummond out to the perimeter for a 3-pointer to give Boston a 105-104 lead, Jennings answered with his own shot from distance for Detroit's final points.

The thud of blowing a 21-point lead resounded in Boston after Josh Smith's hard defensive challenge forced Jeff Green's runner at the final buzzer off line.

"The bottom line is they outplayed us for 36 minutes out of 48," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "So we outplayed them for 12 and it wasn't good enough. And it's not going to be good enough."

For the Pistons, a new closer has been unveiled -- not an isolation scorer, but a scorer with playmaking skills when at his keenest.

"Last five minutes, I want the ball," Jennings said. "That don't mean I'm a scorer, but just make things happen."

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