The Boston Celtics will be looking to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season when they face the visiting Detroit Pistons on Thursday.The Celtics haven’t played since they dropped a 127-121 decision to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday at home. Boston overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to take a four-point lead in the fourth quarter but couldn’t keep pace in the final minutes.”Effort was good,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “You’re down 14, take the lead. In the fourth quarter I felt like we didn’t really have a rhythm to the game, but we were able to take the lead. I thought we kind of just ran out of gas here towards the end.”It was Boston’s fifth game in seven nights, and the Celtics shot 18 of 60 from 3-point territory.”These are the games you’ve just gotta fight through it,” Jaylen Brown said. “Tough schedule, but we don’t make any excuses. We know what the journey is about and we’re not skipping any steps. I thought we fought as a team. We didn’t let the rope go. We didn’t give up.”Sam Hauser, one of Boston’s top reserves, left Saturday’s game in the second quarter with what the team called right adductor tightness. Mazzulla downplayed the injury in his postgame comments, saying, “He’s doing pretty good. He said he’d be OK, but he just wasn’t able to finish (Saturday’s game). But afterwards, he said he was good.”However, Hauser was listed as doubtful for Thursday’s game. Listed as questionable are All-Star Jayson Tatum (right patella tendiopathy), Jaden Springer (non-COVID illness) and Jordan Walsh (rib contusion).Cade Cunningham had 29 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to help the Pistons end a three-game losing streak by beating the New York Knicks 120-111 Saturday. Cunningham, Detroit’s first-round draft pick in 2021, is averaging 23.9 points, 9.4 assists and 7.3 rebounds in 21 games this season.