Photo Credit: Detroit Pistons/Instagram
By: Jennifer Portee
Paul George had his Boston debut looking like a win. Then Javonte Green came off Detroit’s bench and changed the game.
Green scored all 19 of his points in the second half Tuesday, helping the Pistons wipe out a 22-point deficit and beat the Celtics 121-113 in the NBA’s season-opening matinee.
Cade Cunningham finished with 22 points and eight assists, while Jalen Duren added 22 points and nine rebounds. But Detroit’s comeback found another gear with Green, who didn’t play before halftime and wound up delivering some of the afternoon’s biggest shots.
Boston had no answer for him late. With 3:33 remaining, Green had enough time against a slow defensive response from Jayson Tatum to line up his fifth 3-pointer. The shot pushed Detroit’s lead to 13, a sharp turn from a third quarter that began with George threatening to put the game away.
George scored 38 points, the most by a player in his Celtics debut. Acquired from Philadelphia in the deal that sent 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the 76ers, the nine-time All-Star wasted little time showing what he could bring to Boston’s offense.
Early in the third, he buried three 3-pointers in less than a minute. The Celtics’ lead reached 72-50. Detroit was down 22, and George was getting comfortable.
The Pistons didn’t let that run decide the afternoon.
They cut the deficit to six by the end of the third quarter, putting Boston under pressure before taking over in the fourth. Green knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer. Duren followed with a three-point play, and Duncan Robinson connected from deep to give Detroit a 107-99 advantage with 5:10 left.
What had looked like a comfortable Boston opener had become a game the Celtics couldn’t get back under control.
Robinson finished with 21 points, making five of his nine attempts from beyond the arc. His shooting and Green’s second-half production gave Detroit enough perimeter offense to complement Cunningham and Duren. Ausar Thompson added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
For Boston, George’s debut was the clear bright spot. In his 17th season, he supplied the scoring run that built the lead, but the Celtics couldn’t make it hold.
Tatum struggled to find his shot, finishing with 13 points on 6-for-23 shooting. He handed out 11 assists, though his offense never caught up to his playmaking, and his late closeout on Green left Detroit room to stretch the margin.
The six-time All-Star is beginning his first full season since tearing his Achilles tendon in May 2025. Tuesday’s opener paired that return with the arrival of a new running mate, but Boston left with a loss despite George’s record-setting introduction.
Derrick White and Payton Pritchard scored 17 points apiece for the Celtics.
Detroit visits Miami on Friday with a comeback win in the books and a big lift from Green, who scored 19 points after sitting out the first half. Boston gets another shot at home that night against the Knicks.