Pistons Erase 22-Point Deficit to Beat Celtics on Opening Night

The NBA’s 81st season began with a comeback. The Detroit Pistons trailed the Boston Celtics by 22 points early in the third quarter of the opening game on Tuesday, 20 October, then used a 23-0 fourth-quarter run to win 121-113 at Little Caesars Arena. Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren scored 22 points each, and Javonte Green, who did not play in the first half, came off the bench to score 19.

Boston’s Paul George scored 38 points, the most by any player in his Celtics debut, according to Flashscore. It was not enough. The matinee tipped off at 3 p.m. Eastern, which was 3 a.m. on Wednesday in Malaysia, and fans who stayed up saw one of the most dramatic opening-day turnarounds in recent memory.

How Boston built the lead

George was superb from the start. He scored 12 of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter, when Boston went on a 15-0 run, and the Celtics led 58-45 at half-time. Early in the third, he made three three-pointers in under a minute, and Boston’s lead reached 72-50. At that point, the Celtics looked set for a comfortable start to a season in which Jayson Tatum is expected to play a full campaign for the first time since his Achilles tear in May 2025.

Tatum himself struggled. He finished with 13 points and 11 assists but shot 6-of-23 from the field. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard added 17 points each, and George also contributed five rebounds and five steals. But once Detroit found its rhythm, Boston had no answer.

Detroit’s fightback

The Pistons began their recovery in the third quarter, outscoring Boston 27-9 at one stage to trail only 88-82 heading into the fourth. Then came the decisive burst. Green’s three-pointer with 6:41 left gave Detroit a 101-99 lead, its first since early in the second quarter. A Duren three-point play and a Duncan Robinson three made it 107-99 with 5:10 remaining, and Detroit kept scoring until the run reached 23 points. Boston never led again.

• Biggest Boston lead: 72-50, early in the third quarter.
• Half-time score: Celtics 58, Pistons 45.
• Score entering the fourth: Celtics 88, Pistons 82.
• Decisive run: 23-0 in under five minutes in the fourth quarter.
• Go-ahead basket: Javonte Green’s three with 6:41 left.

Robinson scored 12 of his 21 points during that fourth-quarter run and finished 5-of-9 from three. Green went 5-of-8 from deep, his fifth three giving Detroit a 13-point lead with 3:33 left. Ausar Thompson posted 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Cunningham kept attacking after a difficult first half. It was a complete team response to a difficult first half.

Cunningham was honest about the slow start. “We just didn’t do our brand of basketball good enough in the first half, and we had to turn it up,” he said. “We had a good talk at halftime and lit that fire a little bit better.” He added that the team still needed to build its “camaraderie” and “synergy”, but that this would come as the season goes on.

George’s debut and the big trade

George’s performance was the individual story of the afternoon. The nine-time All-Star, now 36 and in his 17th season, joined Boston from Philadelphia in a July trade that sent 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the 76ers. On the evidence of opening night, he still has the shooting and scoring ability to be a central figure for a contender. That Brown was making his own 76ers debut in New York later the same evening only added to the narrative.

• Paul George: 38 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists.
• Jayson Tatum: 13 points and 11 assists on 6-of-23 shooting.
• Derrick White and Payton Pritchard: 17 points each.
• Detroit leaders: Cunningham 22, Duren 22, Robinson 21, Green 19.

Why it matters

This was a meeting between the Eastern Conference’s top two regular-season teams from last year, with Detroit finishing first and Boston second. The result will not decide the standings, but it said something about the Pistons’ resilience. Rather than relying on Cunningham alone, they won through contributions from the bench and from role players, which bodes well for a long season.

For Boston, the concern is less the loss than the way it happened. A 22-point lead should be safe at home or on the road, and allowing a 23-0 run suggests problems with ball security and late-game execution that Boston’s coaching staff will want fixed quickly. With George in form and Tatum back, the talent is clearly there; the cohesion is still a work in progress.

Both teams were back in action on Friday, the Celtics at home to the New York Knicks and the Pistons at Miami. Detroit would win that game too, but it lost Duren to a hamstring strain in the process. On opening night, though, the story was simple: the Pistons refused to accept a bad first half and started their season with a statement victory.

How to read the next chapter

The first step in reading Pistons Erase 22-Point Deficit to Beat Celtics on Opening Night is to separate the confirmed event from what it may mean for the rest of the season. One game, injury update or contract decision can change a team's immediate options, but it rarely settles a longer trend. Look at the official game book or team announcement for the event itself, then compare it with the wider schedule and the players actually available. Early-season numbers are particularly sensitive to small samples: a high shooting percentage over two games says less than the quality and type of the shots that created it.

Lineups are the most practical follow-up. A team can lose a scorer yet improve defensively with a different five, or win one night while a weak bench rotation remains unresolved. Watch how the coach distributes minutes, which players close each half and who handles the ball when the first option is denied. In the case of Pistons Erase 22-Point Deficit to Beat Celtics on Opening Night, those details will show whether the immediate headline translates into a stable change. They are questions to test in subsequent games, not claims that a specific rotation has already been chosen.