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2026-27 · Regular season
Detroit Pistons beat Boston Celtics 121-113: a 23-0 fourth-quarter run erases a 22-point hole and spoils Paul George’s 38
The Pistons erased a 22-point deficit with a 23-0 fourth-quarter run to beat the Celtics 121-113 on opening night. Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren scored 22 each; Paul George had 38 in his Celtics debut.
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The Detroit Pistons opened the 2026-27 NBA season by erasing a 22-point deficit and beating the Boston Celtics 121-113 at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, October 20. A 23-0 run in under five minutes of the fourth quarter flipped the game, and it spoiled a 38-point Celtics debut from Paul George in front of 20,178 fans.
Cade Cunningham finished with 22 points and 8 assists, Jalen Duren had 22 points and 9 rebounds, and Duncan Robinson scored 21 with five threes. Javonte Green did not play in the first half and still scored 19, all of them after the break, on 5-of-8 shooting from deep.
Video: NBA / X.
How it turned
Boston controlled the first half and led 58-45 at the break. George then hit three straight threes early in the third quarter, all set up by Derrick White, in less than a minute, and the Celtics were up 72-50 with 8:32 left in the period.
Detroit answered with its bench. Green, Paul Reed and Isaiah Joe sparked a push that cut the gap to 88-82 after three, and the Pistons won the second half 76-55. Boston still led 99-89 after a White three with 8:19 to play. From there Robinson hit two straight threes and then three free throws after he was fouled on another attempt from deep, Green put Detroit ahead for good at 101-99, Duren converted a three-point play, and Robinson’s fifth three made it 107-99 with 5:10 left. Green’s own fifth three capped the 23-0 burst at 112-99 with 3:33 remaining.
The Celtics got within 114-110 on a George three with 1:06 left, but Ausar Thompson answered with a pull-up jumper and Detroit closed it out at the line. The Pistons made 28 of 32 free throws to Boston’s 16 of 21, outrebounded the Celtics 49-39 and scored 44 points in the paint to 34. Thompson had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists and was plus-12; Green was plus-21 in 18 minutes.
Boston’s side
George shot 12-of-21, made 7 of 12 threes and 7 of 8 free throws, and added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals in 31 minutes. The 38 points are the most by a Celtic in his team debut, and the league noted he is the first player since steals were first tracked in 1973-74 to post 35 points and 5 steals in his first game with a new team. George arrived from Philadelphia in the summer trade that sent Jaylen Brown to the 76ers.
Jayson Tatum, in his first opener since his May 2025 Achilles tear, struggled with his shot: 13 points on 6-of-23, 0-for-7 from three, though he did hand out 11 assists. White and Payton Pritchard scored 17 apiece, White adding 8 assists, and Sam Hauser hit 3 of 5 threes for 11. The Celtics went 17-of-42 from deep and committed 14 turnovers.
“These guys are relentless,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of the comeback. The league said Detroit is the first team to finish a 20-point comeback on the first day of an NBA season since 1997.
What’s next
The Pistons visit the Miami Heat on Friday, October 23 (8 p.m. ET, 3 a.m. Saturday Cairo time). The Celtics host the New York Knicks the same night (7 p.m. ET, 2 a.m. Saturday Cairo time).
Full box score and play-by-play: Game Center. All-time head-to-head. More from the game: Paul George on his debut and Jalen Duren on the Detroit crowd.
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