The absence gives Tatum more than a week of rest. The last game he played was last Saturday against Memphis. The Celtics’ next game is Sunday against the Wizards in Washington.

Boston didn’t miss a beat in a 123-99 win over the Pistons at TD Garden.

Tatum was able to practice before the game and has another small practice scheduled for Friday, Mazzulla said. The coach said Tatum looked good during practice and is getting better.

“Tendinopathy, I don’t know much about it, but I think it’s something that just comes and goes. “It’s nothing serious,” Mazzulla said.

Durability has been a strength for Tatum over the years. He has appeared in 74 or more games in five of the last seven seasons. Piston trainer JB Bickerstaff said the Celtics’ unselfishness makes them difficult to prepare for, even in the rare event that Tatum is out.

“From an individual tendency standpoint, it changes some things that you do, but they play the same with or without him,” Bickerstaff said. “They move the ball. This is one of the more unselfish teams we’ve seen on a regular basis. They have immense talent all over the floor, the way they space the floor, form threes and things like that.”

“So it doesn’t change the way we try to protect them or what we try to do. Obviously it eliminates an extremely talented player from the lineup, but this team is good enough to find a way to beat you with the guys they have.”

The Celtics’ selflessness and willingness to do the little things starts with their stars, Bickerstaff said.

“They repeat what their stars do. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown“These guys could shoot the ball every time they wanted to,” Bickerstaff said. “But they keep sacrificing to make the right play. I think it sets the tone. They have built and established a great culture here that people should emulate more.”

The Celtics are 2-0 without Tatum this season. They played six games without Brown, and they were without Kristaps Porzingis for more than a month. Boston (20-5) keeps finding ways to win.

“It’s just the locker room,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s really just a matter of expectation and professionalism. That’s no excuse, whoever is there or not has the expectation to do their job and they have the expectation to win.”

“I think it’s just them. Their preparation and attention to detail means they don’t let anything slip by, and when the guys are out there you can benefit from the versatility of the different guys.”

A fine amount

The NBA fined Brown $25,000 for the gesture he made while celebrating a dunk in a win over Detroit earlier this month.

The league imposed a fine Dwyane Wadewho was playing with the Bulls at the time, the same amount in 2016 when he made a similar gesture during a win against the Celtics.

While some of the money the league takes in goes to charities, Brown said he would like players to have more control over which charities benefit.

“I would prefer it to be like that. It doesn’t always work that way,” Brown said. “According to the rules and the CBA it goes to charities, but not always to the charity of our choice. So behind the scenes we have a lot of great people fighting to make the players feel strong and things like that.

“But some of it is not as concrete as I would like. Often it goes to the NBA’s charities or whatever they support. But as players we should have a little more control over where our money goes.”

Make it big

Putting two 7-foot players on the floor at the same time is a rarity since 3-point shooting plays such a large role in the NBA today.

Porzingis and Luke Kornet shared the floor for a while on Thursday evening.

Both players showed efficient performances. Kornet went 5-for-5 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds in 13 minutes. Porzingis contributed 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

“That’s the versatility, right? (Porzingis), (Xavier Tillman),(Cornet), (Al Horford), And (Neemias Queta), these guys can all play off each other,” Mazzulla said. “They are doing a great job. Sometimes it’s a little slower because we’re trying to figure out the coverages and matchups and who’s going against who and how to get our spacing.

“But their basketball IQ and skill set allows them to play, and we can take advantage of that versatility.”