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Pistons rally to beat Celtics in NBA 2026-27 season opener / Photo: Gregory Shamus - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Pistons rally to beat Celtics in NBA 2026-27 season opener
Duncan Robinson scored 21 points to spark a fierce second-half fightback and the Detroit Pistons beat visiting Boston 121-113 on Tuesday in the opening game of the 2026-27 NBA season.
Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren led Detroit with 22 points each while reserve Javonte Green added 19 points and Ausar Thompson had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pistons trailed by as many as 22 points before seizing command with a 23-0 fourth-quarter run, Robinson scoring 12 in the streak, to grab a 112-99 advantage.
Green's three-pointer with 6:41 remaining gave the Pistons the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter at 101-99 and the Celtics never led again.
"We just didn't do our brand of basketball good enough in the first half and we had to turn it up," Cunningham said. "We had a good talk at halftime and lit that fire a little bit better.
"We've just got to get our camaraderie, our synergy, a little bit better, but that will come as the season goes on."
Boston's Paul George scored 38 points, the most by any player in his Celtics debut.
The 36-year-old American forward, a nine-time NBA All-Star obtained from Philadelphia in a July trade that sent Jaylen Brown to the 76ers, added five rebounds, five steals and three assists.
Derrick White and Payton Pritchard each added 17 points while Jayson Tatum had 13 on 6-of-23 shooting.
George scored 12 of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter as the Celtics, aided by a 15-0 run, grabbed a 58-45 halftime lead.
Detroit made a 27-9 run in the third quarter, pulling within 88-82 entering the fourth, and Green shot 5-of-8 from three-point range and Cunningham 5-of-9 from beyond the arc to ignite Detroit's comeback.
The Pistons, Eastern Conference regular-season champions in the last campaign, and runner-up Boston set the stage for an impressive opening night for the NBA's 81st season.
Superstar LeBron James and his new Philadelphia 76ers teammates begin their campaign later Tuesday at New York as the Knicks raise their 2026 championship banner to the rafters at Madison Square Garden.
Victor Wembanyama and the NBA runner-up San Antonio Spurs launch their season with a later home game against Oklahoma City in a rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.
S.Maiolo--INP
