Duncan Robinson scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as Detroit reeled off 23 unanswered points and downed the visiting Boston Celtics, 121-113, in the NBA’s regular season opener on Tuesday afternoon.
Jalen Duren and Cade Cunningham scored 22 points apiece for the Pistons, who had an Eastern Conference-best 60 wins last season.
Javonte Green came off the bench to score 19 points in 18 minutes and Ausar Thompson supplied 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Paul George, making his Celtics debut, had a game-high 38 points. Payton Pritchard and Derrick White scored 17 points apiece but Jayson Tatum was held to 13 points on 6-for-23 shooting and contributed 11 assists.
The Celtics led by 13 at halftime, thanks a second-quarter run. Detroit held a 39-35 advantage early in the quarter before Boston erupted for 15 unanswered points.
George scored the Celtics’ last eight points of the half as Boston carried a 58-45 advantage into the second half.
George didn’t cool off coming out of the locker room. He fired in a trio of 3-pointers in a 52-second span to give Boston its biggest lead at 72-50.
Green entered the game shortly after to slow down George. He not only did that, he gave Detroit a spark on offense. Green scored 11 points in the quarter, including three 3-pointers of his own, as the Pistons pulled within three points by the closing seconds of the quarter.
George opened the fourth quarter with a layup to give Boston a 90-82 lead. The Celtics soon nudged the lead to 12 but Detroit began another comeback, started by a Thompson three-point play.
Robinson scored 11 straight points to pull the Pistons within one at 99-98. He then set up a 3-pointer for Green before Duren converted a three-point play. Robinson fired in a 3-pointer with 5:13 left to make it 107-99.
Green capped the 23-point run with another 3-pointer for a 112-99 lead with 3:33 to go.
Boston rallied to pull within four but Green hit two free throws with 6.7 seconds left to clinch Detroit’s win.
