The Pistons came back from 22 down to beat the Celtics 121-113 in Detroit on Tuesday night, in the opening game of the 2026-27 NBA season. Paul George made his Boston debut and set a franchise record for points in a debut, per Yahoo Sports. Yahoo noted he did it before the third quarter ended. The box score puts him at 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting, 7-of-12 from three, with five steals in 31 minutes.
Boston's largest lead was 72-50, early in the third quarter, per Yahoo's game story. Yahoo described the Pistons as storming back "behind its bench and a fourth-quarter surge," and one recap put the fourth-quarter run at 28-3. Another Yahoo piece said Boston went from 22 up to 23 down. Detroit's bench did the damage: Javonte Green scored 19 on 5-of-8 three-point shooting and was +21 in 18 minutes. Starters Jalen Duren (22 points, 9 rebounds) and Cade Cunningham (22 points, 8 assists) led the scoring, and Duncan Robinson added 21. Yahoo's early recap said the Pistons had struggled to shoot in the first half, scoring only 18 in the second quarter while Boston closed the half on a 23-6 run.
The two teams shot almost identically, 45% from the field each, and Boston actually hit more threes (17 to 15). The gaps were elsewhere. Detroit went 28-of-32 at the line against Boston's 16-of-21. The Pistons also won the rebounding 49-39 and the points in the paint 44-34, and they scored 21 points off 14 Boston turnovers' worth of mistakes... more precisely, Detroit's 21 points came off turnovers, against Boston's 17.
Boston's other stars did not match George. Jayson Tatum had 11 assists but shot 6-of-23 and 0-of-7 from three in 38 minutes, and finished with 13 points. Derrick White scored 17 with 8 assists and 4 turnovers. Boston's starting five, which Yahoo listed before tip as White, Jordan Walsh, Tatum, George and Mitchell Robinson, was outscored in the second half. Walsh went scoreless in 13 minutes and Robinson had 4 points in 18.
The tone of Boston's coverage was harsh. One Yahoo headline called the second half "embarrassing," quoting the reaction pieces from House and Forsberg, another said the Celtics "choked away" the opener, and a third carried the line "We gotta do better." The sources we have don't say who made those remarks.
Boston is 0-1 and Detroit 1-0. Both teams went into the game having won their last two games on Oct. 14 and 16. The Celtics play next on Friday, Oct. 23, at home against the Knicks. The Pistons play the same night at Miami.
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