When the Celtics’ locker room is opened for reporters a half-hour before each game, there generally aren’t very many Celtics there. Many are usually off in a trainer’s room or off in a weight room or off somewhere else where they won’t be bothered.

Before Wednesday night’s game against the Pistons, though, the locker room was bustling. Music was playing, players were smiling, and the mood was generally light.

Such is life when you’re improbably tied for third place in the Eastern Conference. Such is life when the wins flow. And for the Celtics, this game brought more of the same. More big runs, more big leads, and another mostly comfortable win, 102-95. It was the Celtics’ seventh victory in their last eight games.

Boston led by as many as 24 points after the score was tied at 4, and the Pistons would never get that close again. Detroit used a late rally to pull within 7 points, but the once-massive deficit was simply too large and the Celtics were too sturdy.

There have been times when the Celtics have let cushy leads morph into losses. In fact, the last time these teams met, on Jan. 6, Boston coughed up a 13-point second-half edge and fell to the Pistons by 5. But this time the sizable margin left plenty of room for error and easing.

“We just tried to execute down the stretch, keep our poise,’’ guard Evan Turner said. “We thought after a while the whistle stopped blowing a little bit, but other than that we just tried to battle back.’’

This was the fourth time in 51 games that these teams have met this season. Detroit had won two of the first three and has generally been a challenging matchup for the Celtics in recent years. And that is partly because All-Star center Andre Drummond is a challenging matchup for everyone. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds on Wednesday but never seized control of the game.

“We spent a lot of time focused on him,’’ Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “Hey, if you don’t have team awareness of him on the glass, you’re not paying attention to what he’s doing all season. It doesn’t mean you’re not going to have a few that are going to bounce over your head even if you’re there, but I thought our guys did a pretty good job getting a body on him.’’

Six Celtics reached double figures in scoring, led by Isaiah Thomas, who had 17 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds. Turner added 14 points and six rebounds. Marcus Smart, who has found his 3-point stroke after a dismal stretch, continued his torrid shooting, making 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.

“It takes a while when you come off of injury and you’re not able to do a lot of things,’’ Thomas said of Smart, who missed 18 games because of a knee injury. “I think he’s just getting his legs back under him. He’s shooting it with confidence. He’s stepping into it and shooting it like he’s going to make it. And he’s making most of them. Hopefully, it continues.’’

The second-year guard drilled his first three 3-point attempts, the last a 26-foot shot that gave the Celtics a 32-23 lead. Boston then closed the half with a 10-2 run that was capped when Thomas rattled in a 3-pointer with one second left, giving his team a 56-36 lead at the break. The Pistons made just 13 of 44 field goal attempts in the opening half.

The Celtics led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter when the Pistons clawed back with long-range shooting. Stanley Johnson, Reggie Jackson, and Esan Ilyasova hit 3-pointers over a span of just 57 seconds, slicing the deficit to 65-50. Stevens said some of the open looks were the result of the attention being paid to Drummond. There was an understanding they would have to be vulnerable somewhere.

“That’s a time where if you can defend the 3-point line better than we did, maybe it isn’t a tense ending,’’ Stevens said. “And I think that’s something we’ve got to continue to get better at, playing all 48 minutes.’’

The Garden crowd became a bit restless as the Pistons pulled within 94-86 in the fourth quarter. But Johnson air-balled a 3-pointer that would have whittled the deficit to 5, and at the other end Thomas converted a layup as he was fouled, giving the Celtics some breathing room.

With the Celtics leading, 97-90, Aron Baynes missed a pair of free throws with 1:28 left. And with 58.5 seconds remaining, Smart drained a 3-pointer from the right corner, making it 100-90 and squashing Detroit’s comeback bid.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.