Monday night was more than just another game.

For the fourth time this season, the Celtics (26-16) and Pistons (31-10) played a game that felt more like May or June than a January road trip.

Every possession was a battle. Every mistake was punished. Neither team ever looked comfortable for long.

Boston came up just short at Little Caesars Arena, falling 104-103 after Jaylen Brown’s heavily contested jumper at the buzzer failed to drop. The loss gives Detroit a 3-1 edge in the season series. Still, it does little to separate two teams that seem like inevitable opponents in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The game featured nine lead changes and 14 ties. Both teams struggled to score efficiently against locked-in defenses. Detroit created brief breathing room late, but Brown willed Boston back with two baskets, giving the Celtics one final chance to steal it.

They didn’t, but nothing about this matchup suggested either team holds a decisive edge.

Here are four takeaways from Boston’s one-point loss:

Detroit made Derrick White uncomfortable from the opening tip, consistently cutting off his preferred right-hand drives and forcing him into tough decisions. The result was one of the roughest shooting performances of his season.

White missed 10 of his 11 shots and went 0 for 6 from beyond the arc.

While he remained active as a passer and rebounder, the Celtics felt his absence as a scoring threat - especially in a game where points were at a premium.

Against a Pistons defense this physical and connected, Boston simply couldn’t afford for one of its most reliable offensive outlets to go cold.

Boston entered the night as one of the league’s best teams at taking care of the basketball, but Detroit disrupted that identity early.

The Celtics committed nine first-half turnovers compared to just two for the Pistons, a disparity that translated directly into a lopsided points-off-turnovers battle. Detroit turned those mistakes into 19 easy points, while Boston managed just six on the other end.

The Celtics cleaned things up after halftime, and briefly found offensive rhythm in the third quarter, but the early damage forced them to play from behind all night - a dangerous proposition against a team built to protect slim leads.

Luka Garza’s recent stretch of solid play didn’t matter much once the whistles started piling up.

Four fouls in just three first half minutes sent Joe Mazzulla scrambling, forcing Boston into some unfamiliar lineup looks during a critical stretch of the game.

Xavier Tillman logged his first meaningful minutes since late November, Baylor Scheierman spent time at center in small-ball units, and Neemias Queta was asked to absorb heavier minutes earlier than planned.

Garza returned to score 10 points in the second half, but his absence loomed large in the second quarter, when Boston was outscored 33-22 and briefly lost control of the game.

This performance underscored why the Celtics still need help at center come the trade deadline.

Hauser’s January shooting surge continued against one of the league’s best defenses.

He knocked down 4 of his 7 three-point attempts, capitalizing on Detroit’s tendency to pack the paint and daring Boston’s shooters to make them pay.

But when the game tightened late, Hauser became a non-factor.

He did not attempt a single shot during seven fourth quarter minutes, a quiet finish that stood out in a one-point loss.

Against elite defenses like Detroit’s, those windows don’t stay open long, and Boston never found him when it mattered most.

Boston finishes its road trip at 2-2 and returns home to face the Pacers on Wednesday night.

But the broader takeaway hasn’t changed.

If these two teams meet again in May, the Eastern Conference may well be decided in a series that looks exactly like Monday night - close, physical, and unforgiving.

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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.