BOSTON -- The Detroit Pistons woke up just in time on Wednesday night.

It's not the first time it has happened.

"We've had a lot of these type of games this year," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said after his team rallied from 13 points down in the third quarter and pulled out a 99-94 victory over the Boston Celtics.

"The problem with it is, as I just said to them, is we've done this so many times, I think we're starting to fall into, 'We don't need to play until the fourth quarter,' and that can be dangerous because these games can start to turn on you."

After snoozing through 2 1/2 quarters, the Pistons (20-16) rode guard Reggie Jackson's leadership and scoring to their third win in the last four games.

"I think tonight we didn't really play until the fourth quarter," said Van Gundy. "That was a little disturbing, but in the fourth quarter we were really, really good and made plays down the stretch, defended well."

Jackson, who played his college ball at nearby Boston College, scored nine of his game-high 24 points in the final 6:01.

"It was a tough, hard-fought win," said Jackson, who also six assists. "We didn't really come out and defend the way we wanted to at the beginning, had some shots not go in. After that first quarter, we really felt like we locked in, the second unit did a great job of picking us up to start the second quarter. After that, we just tried to hit the ground running in the second half."

The Pistons, winning despite a season-low five rebounds by foul-ridden center Andre Drummond, trailed 73-60 with 3:18 left in the third quarter. Jackson scored with 6:01 remaining in the game to give his team its first lead and start a 7-0 run that put Detroit up by six.

Guard Isaiah Thomas scored the Celtics' final 15 points, including seven in just 26 seconds. However, he missed two key free throws in the final 1:09. He scored 19 of his 22 in the second half and had 10 assists and five rebounds.

Drummond, who had two big baskets in the comeback, sat on the bench as Van Gundy kept the Celtics from fouling him intentionally and taking advantage of his dreadful foul shooting. The center had 37 rebounds in the first two games against Boston and came in averaging a league-high 16.1 per game.

Backup big man Aron Baynes played tough in his place and salted the game away with two free throws with 29.7 seconds left.

"He was great," Van Gundy said. "I wasn't going to mess around. They were going to foul Andre before the ball ... we weren't even in the penalty. They were going to foul before the ball came inbounds. I put Aron in, and rather than trying to go back and forth and back and forth, I just made up my mind I'm going to finish it with Aron and let our guys play and not have to play through the free throws -- just be able to get into the rhythm of the game and the whole thing."

Drummond was 1 of 5 from the line, including an airball, making him 8 of 25 in three games against Boston.

Boston, which went 6 of 28 from 3-point range (Detroit was 10 of 27), scored only nine baskets over the last 18:50 of the game, none in the final 1:42.

Detroit guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who sank three 3-pointers in 65 seconds in the first half, finished with 20 points. Guard Stanley Johnson came off the bench to score 11 points, including a big 3-pointer with 58.2 seconds left.

Guard Evan Turner scored 17 points and forwards Jae Crowder and Amir Johnson 16 apiece for the Celtics, who lost their second straight. Johnson also had 11 rebounds.

"We didn't bring it in the second half tonight," said Crowder. "We just let up. Let our foot off the gas a little bit."

"We just gotta play a full 48," said Johnson.

Detroit also overcame 13 missed free throws and 18 turnovers to win.

NOTES: There were 55 fouls in the game. ... Celtics G Avery Bradley missed his second consecutive game with a hip injury. Coach Brad Stevens said Bradley is improving but hasn't started to run. Bradley, averaging 14.7 points per game and a key in Boston's defense, will accompany the team on its three-game road trip. The hope is that he can play in Game 2on Sunday at Memphis. ... Pistons G Reggie Jackson threw his support behind C Andre Drummond, endorsing his teammate for an All-Star berth. "He's been playing phenomenal," Jackson said. ... The Celtics have a "Vote Isaiah" push going for G Isaiah Thomas. ... The Pistons will retire C Ben Wallace's jersey in a Jan. 16 ceremony.